dial. [app. a rendering of the sound made by the bird; see quots.] A heron.
1823. Moor, Suffolk Words, Frank. The large slow-flying, fish-eattng, heron, seen probably all over England, on the banks of lakes and pools. Our name is probably derived from its monotone—which is supposed to be like fr a a a nk.
[1829. Col. Hawker, Diary (1893), II. 4. All the flesh and feathers I could see, by way of living targets, were ‘old Francis’ (a heron) and ‘the parson’ (a cormorant), both of which I killed, quite dead, at a good hundred yards.
1870. Athenæum, 10 Sept., 332/1. When danger is apparent, the Heron rises with his peculiar cry of ‘frank!’ at which the Spoonbill immediately follows to where safety presents itself.]
