scaledrake
(ˈskeɪldreɪk)
Also 6–7 skaildraik, -drake, 9 skale, skel-, skieldrake.
[The first element is of obscure origin: see sheldrake. Cf. dial. scale-, skell-duck, and skeel-, skeeling-goose.]
= sheldrake.
| 1600 Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1816) IV. 236/2 Ony..skeldraikis herroun butter, or ony sic kynd of foullis. 1659 Lady Alimony ii. ii. B 4, Who is she that looks like a mouted Scaledrake? 1813 Montagu Ornith. Dict. Suppl., Shieldrake..Scaledrake. 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 153 Common Sheldrake (Tadorna cornuta)... Skeldrake or Scale drake (Orkney Isles). Ibid. 188 Oyster catcher (Hæmatopus ostrilegus)... Skeldrake or Skieldrake (Orkney Isles). |