ornithomancy
(ɔːˈnaɪθəʊˌmænsɪ)
[ad. med. or mod.L. ornīthomantīa, a. Gr. ὀρνῑθοµαντεία divination from birds, augury, f. ὀρνῑθο- bird- + µαντεία divination: see -mancy.]
Divination by means of the flight and cries of birds; augury.
| 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 165 Ornithomancy [divining] by Birds. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Ornithomancy, among the Greeks, was the same with augury among the Romans. 1840 De Quincey Mod. Superst. Wks. 1862 III. 317 Ornithomancy, or the derivation of omens from the motions of birds, grew into an elaborate science. |
So ornithoˈmantic a., of or pertaining to ornithomancy; ornithoˈmantist, a diviner by birds (Bailey vol. II. 1727).