Per·e·grine a. Foreign; not native; extrinsic or from without; exotic. [Spelt also pelegrine.] “Peregrine and preternatural heat.”
Peregrine falcon Zool., a courageous and swift falcon (Falco peregrinus), remarkable for its wide distribution over all the continents. The adult plumage is dark bluish ash on the back, nearly black on the head and cheeks, white beneath, barred with black below the throat. Called also peregrine hawk, duck hawk, game hawk, and great-footed hawk.
Duck, n.
1. Zool. Any bird of the subfamily Anatinæ, family Anatidæ.
Note: ☞ The genera and species are numerous. They are divided into river ducks and sea ducks. Among the former are the common domestic duck (Anas boschas); the wood duck (Aix sponsa); the beautiful mandarin duck of China (Dendronessa galeriliculata); the Muscovy duck, originally of South America (Cairina moschata). Among the sea ducks are the eider, canvasback, scoter, etc.
2. A sudden inclination of the bead or dropping of the person, resembling the motion of a duck in water.
Here be, without duck or nod,
Other trippings to be trod. --Milton.
Bombay duck Zool., a fish. See Bummalo.
Buffel duck, Spirit duck. See Buffel duck.
Duck ant Zool., a species of white ant in Jamaica which builds large nests in trees.
Duck barnacle. Zool. See Goose barnacle.
Duck hawk. Zool. (a) In the United States: The peregrine falcon. (b) In England: The marsh harrier or moor buzzard.
Duck mole Zool., a small aquatic mammal of Australia, having webbed feet and a bill resembling that of a duck (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). It belongs the subclass Monotremata and is remarkable for laying eggs like a bird or reptile; -- called also duckbill, platypus, mallangong, mullingong, tambreet, and water mole.
To make ducks and drakes, to throw a flat stone obliquely, so as to make it rebound repeatedly from the surface of the water, raising a succession of jets; hence: To play at ducks and drakes, with property, to throw it away heedlessly or squander it foolishly and unprofitably.
Lame duck. See under Lame.
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