tropic bird

American  

Or tropicbird

noun

1. any of several web-footed seabirds of the family Phaethontidae, chiefly of tropical seas, having white plumage with black markings and a pair of greatly elongated central tail feathers.

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Etymology

Origin of tropic bird

First recorded in 1675–85

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tropic bird

She knew now it was only some huge, tropic bird, afar on the horizon--some condor, vulture, or other creature of the air.

From Darkness and Dawn by George Allan England

I was forced, in deep depression of spirits, to turn from my grotesque monographs, and paint under my Father's eye, and, from a finished drawing of his, a gorgeous tropic bird in flight.

From Father and Son: a study of two temperaments by Edmund Gosse

Until 1909, the inhabitants consisted of the Laysan albatross, black-footed albatross, sooty tern, gray-backed tern, noddy tern, Hawaiian tern, white tern, Bonin petrel, two shearwaters, the red-tailed tropic bird, two boobies and the man-of-war bird.

From Our Vanishing Wild Life Its Extermination and Preservation by William Temple Hornaday

However, a tropic bird flew past and put the lesser matter out of mind.

From Jungle Peace by William Beebe

Or flights of the tropic bird, known among seamen as the "boatswain," wheeled round and round us, whistling shrilly as they flew.

From Omoo by Herman Melville

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