mud hen

American  

Or mudhen

noun

1. any of various marsh-inhabiting birds, especially the American coot.

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mud hen British  

noun

1. any of various birds that frequent marshes or similar places, esp the coots, rails, etc

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Etymology

Origin of mud hen

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

Kila has him thrown into prison, but each time he is taken out to be killed, Kila imitates the call of a mud hen and the sacrifice is postponed.

From The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai by Beckwith, Martha Warren

Small sacred water jar in form of mud hen.

From Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Pueblos of Zuñi, New Mexico, and Wolpi, Arizona, in 1881 Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1884, pages 511-594 by Stevenson, James

Then drawing the magic hook, he baited it with the Alae or sacred mud hen belonging to his Mother Hina.

From Legends of Ma-ui—a demi god of Polynesia, and of his mother Hina by Westervelt, W. D.

Seems the doctor said as he thought as it was a golden-headed oriole but the friend thought as it was a mud hen.

From Susan Clegg and a Man in the House by Stephens, Alice Barber

One of them was Ka-Alae-huapi, "the stingy Alae"—a small duck, the Hawaiian mud hen.

From Legends of Ma-ui—a demi god of Polynesia, and of his mother Hina by Westervelt, W. D.