| 释义 |
ˈpilot-bird
[f. pilot n. + bird n.]
A name applied to various birds; †a. A sea-bird of the W. Indies (obs.); b. An Australian bird, Pycnoptilus floccosus; c. ? An albatross (quot. 1888).
1678Phillips (ed. 4), The Pilot Bird, a certain Bird about the Caribe Islands, which gives notice to Ships that sail that way, when they come near any of those Islands. [Hence in Bailey, Crabbe Technol. Dict., and later Dicts.] 1888R. L. Stevenson Diary in G. Balfour Life (1901) II. 43 Some attendant pilot birds, silent, brown-suited, quakerish fellows, infinitely graceful on the wing. 1893Argus (Melbourne) 25 Mar. 4/6 (Morris) Here, close together, are eggs of the lyre-bird and the pilot-bird—the last very rare, and only found quite lately in the Dandenong Ranges. 1903North (of Sydney, N.S.W.) Let. to Prof. A. Newton, Relative to the name of ‘Pilot-bird’ for Pycnoptilus floccosus, this species has been so labelled in the National Museum, Melbourne, for the past twenty-five years. The name is probably derived from its loud and distinct notes quite unlike those of any other species. |