dunlin
(ˈdʌnlɪn)
[dial. form of dunling, f. dun a. + -ling. Cf. dunnock.]
The red-backed sandpiper (Tringa alpina or variabilis), a European migratory bird, abundant at certain seasons on the sea-coast. Also an American species or subspecies (T. pacifica).
| 1531–2 in Rogers Agric. & Prices III. 185/1. 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. iii. xii. 305 The North-Country Dunlin..is about the bigness of the Jack-Snipe. 1766 Pennant Zool. (1776) II. 471 Dunlin, this species is at once distinguished from the others by the singularity of its colours. 1877 Besant & Rice Son of Vulc. i. xiii, A flock of ox-birds, or dunlins, digging out the juicy slugs from the mud. |