king-bird
1. (Also king's-bird, king bird of paradise.) A species of bird of paradise, Cicinnurus regius.
| 1779 Forrest Voy. N. Guinea 141 The late Linneus, as well as Count Buffon, reckon the King's bird among the birds of paradise. 1828 Webster, Kingbird, a fowl of the genus Paradisea. 1862 Wood Nat. Hist. II. 418 The Manucode, or King Bird of Paradise, so called because it was thought to exercise a regal sway over the other species. 1958 G. Durrell Encounters with Animals ii. 47 Here [sc. in a Brazilian zoo]..three king birds of paradise were living... The male is about the size of a blackbird, with a velvety orange head contrasting vividly with a snow-white breast and a brilliant scarlet back. |
2. A royal bird; ? the eagle.
| 1840 Browning Sordello vi. 583 As the king-bird with ages on his plumes Travels to die in his ancestral glooms. 1926 D. H. Lawrence David viii. 65 Jonathan:..Shall not the leader shine forth? Saul: Even so. And the young King-bird shall moult his feathers in the same hour. |
3. One of several North American tyrant fly-catchers of the genus Tyrannus.
| 1778 J. Carver Trav. N. Amer. 475 The King Bird is like a swallow, and seems to be of the same species as the black martin or swift. 1801 Massachusetts Spy 25 Nov. 1/2 Just as a parcel of King-birds will pick at a Crow. 18.. in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XVI. 569/1 With spring's return the king-bird hither hastes. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1865) 28 If you ever saw a crow with a king bird after him, you will get an image of a dull speaker and a lively listener. 1896 Newton Dict. Birds 1000 The glory of the Family may be said to culminate in the king of King-birds, Muscivora regia. 1959 Van Tyne & Berger Fund. Ornith. vii. 205 The Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) and the Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus)..leave Cuba to winter in South America. |
4. A sailor's name for various species of tern (Newton Dict. Birds s.v.).