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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tropic bird

Giving him one frightened glance, she turned and sped like some strange tropic bird upon the wind.

From An Algonquin Maiden A Romance of the Early Days of Upper Canada by A. Ethelwyn Wetherald

Only sea and sky; an albatross with pinions of grand spread, or a tropic bird, its long tail-feathers trailing train-like behind it.

From The Flag of Distress A Story of the South Sea by Mayne Reid

When half-way across the point, I came suddenly upon a magnificent male tropic bird, sitting in his nest behind a tussock of tall, reedy grass.

From The Island Home by Dalziel

It could not be the tail-feathers of the tropic bird so prized by the chiefs of Polynesia; nor yet the scarlet pouch of the sea-hawk.

From The Ocean Waifs A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea by Mayne Reid

The tropic bird is a species of gull, about the size of a partridge.

From A Voyage round the World A book for boys by William Henry Giles Kingston