sprig tail, sprigtail
[f. sprig n.1]
1. A short pointed tail.
| 1676 Lond. Gaz. No. 1108/4 A Bay Mare above 14 hands, a Sprig Tail. 1690 Ibid. No. 2607/4 He had with him a white Mungrel crop-ear'd Dog, with a sprig Tail. 1721 Ibid. No. 6000/3 A black Gelding..with a Sprig Tail, a little Hair upon it. 1772 Oxf. Jrnl. 21 Nov. 1 A black horse with a sprig tail. 1853 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 16 There's the little Hirish 'oss with the sprig-tail. |
2. U.S. A species of duck; = pintail 2.
| 1782 T. Jefferson Notes St. Virginia (1787) 118 Ballcoot. Sprigtail. Didapper or Dopchick. 1814 A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. VIII. 73 The Sprigtail is an elegantly formed, long-bodied Duck, the neck longer and more slender than most others. 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl. Introd. 16 In the shoal-water class are the mallard, sprigtail or pintail. Ibid. 166 Many shots will frequently be had at wood-duck, teal, and sprigtails in this sport. |