boatswain n also boatswain bird, bo's'n, bosun bird, bo'swain. Cp OED ~ 2 Arctic skua (1835-). Pomarine jaeger, a dark, hawk-like seabird (Stercorarius pomarinus) .
   [1785] 1792 CARTWRIGHT iii, 76 I saw a curlew and killed a bird called a boatswain. 1841 BONNYCASTLE i, 15-16 We afterwards crossed a strong and noisy current, and saw many boatswain-birds, and an immense shoal of small fish. 1908 TOWNSEND 173 The jaegers, or hunters of the sea, called here 'bo'swains,' are very graceful, hawklike gulls. 1959 MCATEE 35 Bo's'n. Pomarine Jaeger.

Go Back