Obs. rare. Bird-catching. ‘A moveable perch to which a bird is tied and which the bird-catcher can raise by means of a long string.’ (Pennant). Also attrib., as flur-bird.
1766. Pennant, Zool. (1768), II. 331. He hath, besides, what are called flur-birds, which are placed within the nets, are raised upon the flur and gently let down at the time the wild bird approaches them.
1797. P. Wakefield, Mental Improv. (1801), I. 57. The nets being properly laid, and singing birds, in small cages, placed near them, the flur birds are braced by a silken string, tied under their wings round their bodies, and by that confined to a movable perch fixed within the nets.
