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king-bird
1. (Also king's-bird, king bird of paradise.) A species of bird of paradise, Cicinnurus regius.
1779Forrest Voy. N. Guinea 141 The late Linneus, as well as Count Buffon, reckon the King's bird among the birds of paradise. 1828Webster, Kingbird, a fowl of the genus Paradisea. 1862Wood Nat. Hist. II. 418 The Manucode, or King Bird of Paradise, so called because it was thought to exercise a regal sway over the other species. 1958G. Durrell Encounters with Animals ii. 47 Here [sc. in a Brazilian zoo]..three king birds of paradise were living... The male is about the size of a blackbird, with a velvety orange head contrasting vividly with a snow-white breast and a brilliant scarlet back.
2. A royal bird; ? the eagle.
1840Browning Sordello vi. 583 As the king-bird with ages on his plumes Travels to die in his ancestral glooms. 1926D. H. Lawrence David viii. 65 Jonathan:..Shall not the leader shine forth? Saul: Even so. And the young King-bird shall moult his feathers in the same hour.
3. One of several North American tyrant fly-catchers of the genus Tyrannus.
1778J. Carver Trav. N. Amer. 475 The King Bird is like a swallow, and seems to be of the same species as the black martin or swift. 1801Massachusetts Spy 25 Nov. 1/2 Just as a parcel of King-birds will pick at a Crow. 18..in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XVI. 569/1 With spring's return the king-bird hither hastes. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1865) 28 If you ever saw a crow with a king bird after him, you will get an image of a dull speaker and a lively listener. 1896Newton Dict. Birds 1000 The glory of the Family may be said to culminate in the king of King-birds, Muscivora regia. 1959Van Tyne & Berger Fund. Ornith. vii. 205 The Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) and the Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus)..leave Cuba to winter in South America.
4. A sailor's name for various species of tern (Newton Dict. Birds s.v.). |