DCHP-1 Online
cowbird † 
1 n. a small, black bird, Molothrus ater, having a short bill and bright eyes, noted for its practice of laying eggs in the nests of other birds and for its symbiotic attendance on cattle.
- 1908 The cow bird . . . imposes its eggs on several of our smaller flycatchers. . . .
- 1955 The cowbirds [were] formerly called buffalo-birds. . . .
2 n. Slang a sponger; freeloader; grafter.
- 1910 (1921) ". . . I'll take the law into my own hands an' wallop seven kinds of daylight out of that cowbird."
- 1908 The cow bird . . . imposes its eggs on several of our smaller flycatchers. . . .