Bird of passage
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A migratory bird, especially a passage migrant (“a bird that stops somewhere for a short time during a seasonal migration”).
"There is a wonderful conformity between the vegetation of ſome plants, and the arrival of certain birds of paſſage. [Carl] Linnaeus obſerves that the wood anemone blows in Sweden on the arrival of the ſwallow; and the marſh mary-gold, Caltha, when the cuckoo ſings."
- 2 any bird that migrates seasonally wordnet
- 3 Someone passing through a place and only staying for a short time; an itinerant. figuratively
"The muſick and entertainments of Bath are over for this ſeason; and all our gay birds of paſſage have taken their flight to Briſtol-vvell, Tunbridge, Brighthelmſtone, Scarborough, Harrovvgate, &c."
- 4 someone who leads a wandering unsettled life wordnet
Example
More examples"There is a wonderful conformity between the vegetation of ſome plants, and the arrival of certain birds of paſſage. [Carl] Linnaeus obſerves that the wood anemone blows in Sweden on the arrival of the ſwallow; and the marſh mary-gold, Caltha, when the cuckoo ſings."
Etymology
Probably a calque of Middle French oiseau de passage: oiseau (“bird”), passage (“part of a journey or route, passage”).