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Bird of passage   /bərd əv pˈæsədʒ/   Listen
noun
Bird  n.  
1.
Orig., a chicken; the young of a fowl; a young eaglet; a nestling; and hence, a feathered flying animal (see 2). "That ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird." "The brydds (birds) of the aier have nestes."
2.
(Zool.) A warm-blooded, feathered vertebrate provided with wings. See Aves.
3.
Specifically, among sportsmen, a game bird.
4.
Fig.: A girl; a maiden. "And by my word! the bonny bird In danger shall not tarry."
Arabian bird, the phenix.
Bird of Jove, the eagle.
Bird of Juno, the peacock.
Bird louse (Zool.), a wingless insect of the group Mallophaga, of which the genera and species are very numerous and mostly parasitic upon birds. Bird mite (Zool.), a small mite (genera Dermanyssus, Dermaleichus and allies) parasitic upon birds. The species are numerous.
Bird of passage, a migratory bird.
Bird spider (Zool.), a very large South American spider (Mygale avicularia). It is said sometimes to capture and kill small birds.
Bird tick (Zool.), a dipterous insect parasitic upon birds (genus Ornithomyia, and allies), usually winged.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Bird of passage" Quotes from Famous Books



... thither her woman brought; her her nightgown; and stood blessing herself at the old man's going away: and several of the gallants of White Hall (of which there were many staying to see the Chancellor's return) did talk to her in her bird-cage; among others Blancford, telling her she was the bird of passage. ...
— The Diary of Samuel Pepys • Samuel Pepys

... who even go so far as to observe the evil tendencies which impair the national character, and to point out such remedies as it might be possible to apply; but no one is there to hear these things besides yourself, and you, to whom these secret reflections are confided, are a stranger and a bird of passage. They are very ready to communicate truths which are useless to you, but they continue to hold ...
— Democracy In America, Volume 1 (of 2) • Alexis de Tocqueville

... equally reluctant to go back and prove that the adventure was ended, that she had been a bird of passage who had gone on with no thought ...
— The Thing from the Lake • Eleanor M. Ingram



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