wood pewee

American  

Or wood-pewee

noun

1. either of two small North American flycatchers, the western Contopus sordidulus or the eastern C. virens.

---

Etymology

Origin of wood pewee

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Example Sentences

The idea is cute and corny: eleven songs with themes that take off from the tunes of far-out birds like the purple finch and the wood pewee.

From Time Magazine Archive

“How would you know about a wood pewee in your business?”

From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

In a pine wood near by, a wood pewee, a pine warbler, a yellow-throated warbler, and a pine-wood sparrow were singing—a most peculiarly select and modest chorus.

From A Florida Sketch-Book by Torrey, Bradford

The common or wood pewee excites the most pleasant emotions, both on account of its plaintive note and its exquisite mossy nest.

From Wake-Robin by Burroughs, John

A wood warbler, on the contrary, always brings before me the rush and hurry of the world of people, and the wood pewee its under-current of eternal sadness.

From Upon The Tree-Tops by Miller, Olive Thorne