Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†SWAN, n. Sc. usage in comb. swan-bird, the ivory gull, Pagophila eburnea.Bnff. 1861 Zoologist XIX. 7387:
The bird is pure white, with no appearance whatever of anything creamy or “ivory” about it, as one would be led to expect from its name. Our whale-fishers call it by the more appropriate name of “swan-bird.”
