| 释义 |
ˈhoney-bird
†1. A fanciful name for a bee. Obs.
1605Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iv. Captaines 1143 Quails [have] but One Chief, the Hony-birds but One, One Master-Bee.
2. A bird that feeds on honey or the nectar of flowers, as those of the family Meliphagidæ. Cf. honey-eater, -sucker.
1870Wilson Austral. Songs 99 Honey-birds loitered to suck at the wattle. 1898Morris Austral Eng. s.v. Honey⁓eater, The whole series are sometimes called Honey-birds.
3. = honey-guide 1.
1850R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (ed. 2) I. 41, I saw to-day for the first time the honey-bird. This extraordinary little bird..will invariably lead a person following it to a wild-bees' nest. 1893F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Afr. 455 Two of our Kafirs..had gone in pursuit of a honey-bird. |