Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A bird taught to allure others into a snare; a decoy-bird.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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It would be very disappointing to find that the call-bird was
Penelope and the Others Story of Five Country Children Amy Walton 1873
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David thought it would have been more to the purpose to say, "_We've_ brought a call-bird," but he did not wish to begin a dispute just then, so he let the remark pass.
Penelope and the Others Story of Five Country Children Amy Walton 1873
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The meaning of the call-bird was soon made clear to the doctor, who listened attentively and said it seemed a very good idea, and that he was much obliged to them for telling him of it.
Penelope and the Others Story of Five Country Children Amy Walton 1873
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"Do you suppose," he said, "that he knows what a call-bird is?"
Penelope and the Others Story of Five Country Children Amy Walton 1873
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"It's a call-bird," said Ambrose very quickly, without waiting to say good-morning, while David fixed his broadest stare on the doctor's face to see the effect of the words.
Penelope and the Others Story of Five Country Children Amy Walton 1873
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"I should try a call-bird, master," he said as he put it on again.
Penelope and the Others Story of Five Country Children Amy Walton 1873
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"I shall say, ` I've brought a call-bird, 'directly I get to him."
Penelope and the Others Story of Five Country Children Amy Walton 1873
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There was also the chirrup of the Greenfinch, and the _whee, whee, whee_ which is the climax of the Linnet's song, by which it is so irresistible as a call-bird, and which appears to bring down the flock in spite of themselves.
Essays in Natural History and Agriculture Thomas Garnett 1838
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