Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A kind of grassfinch; an American bird of the genus Spermophila or some related genus. The grassquits are mostly inhabitants of Central and South America and the West Indies. Morelet's grassquit is Spermophila moreleti, occurring in Texas and Mexico. It is very small, only 4 inches long, the male black and white in bold pattern, the female olive-brown and buff. Also called
pygmy finch and little seed-cater. The black-faced grassquit is Phonipara zena of Florida and the West Indies. There are many others. Also calledgrassfinch .
Examples
“Other flagship species include the bizarre long-wattled umbrella bird (Cephalopterus penduliger, VU) and the blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina).”
“Several birds, such as the Peruvian song-sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) and the Pacific blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) visit the lomas at the beginning of the winter when many insect pupae hatch.”
“The latter entry says "in combination used in names of various small songbirds found in the Caribbean area, e.g. bananaquit, grassquit" and adds that the word is "probably imitative.”
“Thus, according to Gosse, the grassquit of Jamaica (Spermophila olivacea) often selects a shrub on which wasps have built, and fixes the entrance to its domed nest close to their cells.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘grassquit’.
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birds
birds with singular names from
at least 9 English dictionariesaasvogel, aberdevine, accentor, accipiter, aepyornis, agami, albatross, alcatras, alcid, alcidine, amadavat, amokura and 1056 more...
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Compounds That Look Freakish
You know who you are, freakish compounds. Though very useful, some of these words just don't seem right together--or, their meanings are so far from what the two (or more) component words suggest t...
nightjar, bullfinch, grassquit, bananaquit, ovenbird, waxwing, stonechat, wheatear, bushtit, wrentit, starthroat, godwit and 158 more...
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Still More Bird Wirds
A work in progress....Birds from around the world (other than endemic to North America).
barbet, hornbill, trogon, bee-eater, bristlehead, wren-babbler, stubtail, blackeye, bush warbler, cassowary, bowerbird, bird-of-paradise and 722 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for grassquit.
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