| 释义 |
‖ promerops Ornith.|ˈprɒmərɒps|
Pl. proˈmeropes |-ˈmɛrəʊpiːz|.
[mod.L. (Réaumur) f. Gr. πρό before + µέροψ bee-eater.]
A South African genus of birds, of uncertain affinity, including the Cape Promerops, P. cafer, a small bird with a long curved slender bill and a very long tail, and the Natal species, P. gurneyi. The name has been also applied to various other slender-billed birds of different families.
1827Perils & Captivity (Constable's Misc.) 94 The humming birds, the red-birds, the paroquets, the promerops. 1840tr. Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 209 The Promeropses..are not crested, but possess a very long tail. 1894Newton Dict. Birds 790 The P[tilorrhis] magnifica (Vieillot) of New Guinea—the ‘Promerops’ of many writers. 1896Ibid. 923 According to Mr. Layard, the habits of the Cape Promerops..are very unlike those of the ordinary Nectariniidæ. |