‖ koel
(ˈkəʊɪl)
Also coel, koïl.
[Hindī kóīl, f. Skr. kokila.]
A cuckoo of the genus Eudynamis, esp. the E. honorata of India, and the E. flindersi of New Guinea and Australia.
| 1826 Erskine tr. Baber's Mem. 323 note, The koel..has a kind of song, and is the nightingale of Hindustân. 1834 A. Prinsep Baboo I. ii. 18 The ever-green shrubberies formed..a sheltered choir for the mango-bird, the meina, and the coel. 1865 Gould Handbk. Birds Australia I. 632 Australian Koel. 1886 R. Kipling Departm. Ditties, etc. (1899) 113 The rose has lost its fragrance, and the köil's note is strange. 1888 Gould Birds New Guinea IV. pl. 41 The Koels or Black Cuckoos of the genus Eudynamys. |