Mousebird

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small, long-tailed African bird that clambers through foliage and is known for its grey or brown plumage and crest
2. Any of the small, mouse-coloured songbirds of sub-Saharan Africa that climb through bushes with their long tails held high
3. A slender African perching bird with soft grey feathers, a crest on its head and a habit of creeping through branches

Etymology: The mousebird gets its name from its habit of creeping through dense foliage like a mouse, climbing and scrambling among branches rather than flying in the open. The English name is a plain compound of "mouse" and "bird", a descriptive coinage with no older, hidden history behind it. The bird itself belongs to the order Coliiformes, a small group found only in Africa, with species that have soft grey-brown plumage, long tails, and crests on their heads. Its clumsy-looking movements through thick vegetation are what made the mouse comparison stick.