Bird (bẽrd), n. [OE. brid, bred, bird, young bird, bird, AS. bridd young bird. √92.] 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.
Shak.
The brydds of the aier have nestes.
Tyndale (Matt. viii. 20).
2. (Zoöl.) 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.
Campbell.
Arabian bird, the phenix. — Bird of Jove, the eagle. — Bird of Juno, the peacock. — Bird louse(Zoöl.), a wingless insect of the group Mallophaga, of which the genera and species are very numerous and mostly parasitic upon birds. — Bird mite (Zoöl.), a small mite (genera Dermanyssus, Dermaleichus and allies) parasitic upon birds. The species are numerous. — Bird of passage, a migratory bird. — Bird spider(Zoöl.), a very large South American spider (Mygale avicularia). It is said sometimes to capture and kill small birds. — Bird tick(Zoöl.), a dipterous insect parasitic upon birds (genus Ornithomyia, and allies), usually winged.