ˈindigo-ˌbird
A well-known North American bird, a species of painted finch, Cyanospiza cyanea, family Fringillidæ, the male of which has the head and upper parts of rich indigo-blue. It is found on the Atlantic slope from Canada southward, and is often kept as a cage-bird.
| 1864–5 Wood Homes without H. xxix. (1868) 550 The Indigo Bird, or Blue Linnet of America, which derives its name from the hue of its feathers. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. (1886) 17 Till within a fortnight, a pair of indigo-birds would keep up their lively duo for an hour together. 1884 Roe Nat. Ser. Story viii, That indigo-bird in yonder tree-top. 1898 Atlantic Monthly Apr. 462/1 Populous with chats, indigo-birds, wood pewees, wood thrushes, and warblers. |