Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The American bittern: same as
pump-thunder . - noun The croaker or sheeps-head, Haplodinotus grunniens.
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reesetee commented on the word thunder-pumper
Nickname for the American Bittern. In the thick vegetation of its habitat, the American Bittern uses resounding, eerie calls to communicate. The calls, along with the bird's secretive nature and inaccessible habitats, have earned the species scores of nicknames, including barrel-maker, bog-bull, bog-bumper, bog-hen, bog-trotter, butter bump, caulker, corker, dunk-a-doo, flying fox, garde-soleil, Indian hen, Indian pullet, jumper, look-up, mire-drum, night-hen, plum-pudden, plunket, poke, post-driver, pumper gor, quack, quock, shite-poke, sibitron, stake-driver, sun-gazer, thunder-pumper, vision-la, and water-belcher. Some of these names allude to the bird's rather amazing vocalizations, some refer to its habits (especially one in which it tilts its head skyward and stands immobile in an attempt to avoid detection), and others...well, who knows?
December 11, 2007