ˈcow-bird
[f. cow n.1]
1. ? See quot.
| 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 206 The cow-bird is seen an attendant upon herds of cattle [between Mogador and Morocco]..He resembles the sea-gull but his plumage is pure white. |
2. U.S. a. A name for several species of Molothrus, esp. M. ater or M. pecoris (called also cow-blackbird, cow-bunting); so called from their habit of constantly attending cattle. b. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus).
| 1828 Audubon Amer. Ornithol. Biog. I. 18 in Penny Cycl. VIII. 210 From the resemblance of its notes to that word [cow, cow], this Cuckoo is named Cow Bird in nearly every part of the union. a 1839 Nuttall in Penny Cycl. XV. 308/1 Another of these birds forsook the nest on taking out the Cow-Bird's egg. 1883 Century Mag. Sept. 683/2 The cow-bird makes room for her own illegitimate egg in the nest by removing one of the bird's own. |
3. A local name for the Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla Raii.) Swainson, Prov. Names of Birds (1885) 45.