Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Any bird of the family Cœrebidæ, as the Bahaman honey-creeper. Certhiola bahamensis: so called from its habit of sucking the sweets of flowers. See cut under Cœrebinæ.
  • noun A honey-eater or honey-sucker; one of various tenuirostral birds of the Old World which suck the sweets of flowers. See Nectariniidæ, Meliphagidæ.
  • noun A translation of the Indian name of the American evening grosbeak or hawfinch, Coccothraustes or Hesperiphona vespertina, which is specially fond of maple sugar.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Nothing in nature can exceed in splendour the plumage of the sugar-bird.

    The Giraffe Hunters Mayne Reid 1850

  • The sugar-bird is delicious when close by, but his pipe is too soft to be heard at any distance.

    Letters from the Cape Lucie Duff Gordon 1845

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