swee, noun

/swiː/
Forms:
Also swi, swie.
Origin:
Onomatopoeic, imitative of the bird’s call.
In full swee waxbill: the bird Estrilda melanotis of the Estrildidae.
1908 Haagner & Ivy Sketches of S. Afr. Bird-Life 68The Swee Waxbill (E[strilda] dufresnii) is the best known species in the South-eastern Province of Cape Colony.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 487Swee,..Estrilda dufresnii. It owes its popular name to its cry of ‘swee-swee’.
1913 J.J. Doke Secret City 78In the thicket of quince behind the summerhouse the Cape robin, the tintinkje, the spotted rooikop, and the more fragile swi built their nests.
1931 Guide to Vertebrate Fauna of E. Cape Prov. (Albany Museum) I. 71Coccopygia melanotis...Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Swee Waxbill...Young birds go about in small flocks.
1937 M. Alston Wanderings 96These other beautiful little birds.., the Dufresne or ‘Swee’ (from the sound they make) waxbills..are grey and olive green, black and scarlet.
1967 W.R. Siegfried Some Protected Birds of Cape Prov. Pl.161Swie Waxbill, A widely distributed bird, gregarious and a seed eater.
1993 G.L. Maclean Roberts’ Birds of Sn Afr. 757Swee Waxbill..Estrilda melanotis.
1993 G.L. Maclean Roberts’ Birds of Sn Afr. 758East African Swee...Size very small; sexes alike; similar to ♀ Swee Waxbill.
In full swee waxbill:the bird Estrilda melanotis of the Estrildidae.
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Swazi, nounn. & adjectiveadj.sweet, adjectiveadj.
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