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

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

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 Kingston, William Henry Giles

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 England, George Allan

You seem, in your scarlet boating-dress, Annie, like some bright tropic bird, alit for a moment beside that other bird of the tropics, flame.

From Oldport Days by Higginson, Thomas Wentworth

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 Melville, Herman