Obs. [Of Scand. origin: cf. Icel. spói, Norw. spoe, spue, Da. spove, Sw. spof.] A curlew or whimbrel.
1519. in Archaeol. (1834), XXV. 422. Item … iij Plovers, iij Spowes, & iij Stynts. Ibid., 426. Item iij Spowes of Gist.
1526. T. L’Estrange, Househ. Exp. (Addit. MS. 27448), fol. 38 b. Item, a spowe, a radshanke, and a snype, ij d. Ibid. viij redshancks viij d, vii spowes x d.
