bird (1 orig. sense, from which the mod. sense was developed; cf. Scotch proverb ‘Every craw thinks its ain bird the whitest’; 2 not pre-S.; 4 partly the old word ‘burd’=maiden, partly fig. use of 1 or the ordinary sense)
1.
young of the feathered
tribes
1H4 V. i. 60
“the cuckoo's
bird,”
3H6 II. i. 91, Tit. II. iii. 154.
2.
game-bird; fig. prey,
object of attack
Shr. V. ii. 46
“Am I your bird?”
(cf. Rom. II. ii. 182).
3.
term of familiar
endearment Tp. IV. i. 184,
Ham. I. v. 116
“come, bird,
come.”
4.
(?) maiden, girl
Cym. IV. ii.
197.
