dovekie

[prettygoodword]

dovekie (DUHV-key) - n., a small black-and-white seabird (Alle alle) of the Arctic and northern Atlantic Oceans, with short bill and a stout body.


Also called little auk -- and it is little, about half the size of an Atlantic puffin. The name is a Scottish diminutive of dove, the past tense of dive -- so "little diver."


Thanks, WikiMedia!

(It is pure coincidence, and not a theme, that all the words this week were animals.)

---L.