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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Porzana Tabuensis

Swamp \Swamp\, n. [Cf. AS. swam a fungus, OD. swam a sponge, D. zwam a fungus, G. schwamm a sponge, Icel. sv["o]ppr, Dan. & Sw. swamp, Goth. swamms, Gr. somfo`s porous, spongy.] Wet, spongy land; soft, low ground saturated with water, but not usually covered with it; marshy ground away from the seashore. Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern. --Tennyson. A swamp differs from a bog and a marsh in producing trees and shrubs, while the latter produce only herbage, plants, and mosses. --Farming Encyc. (E. Edwards, Words). Swamp blackbird. (Zo["o]l.) See Redwing (b) . Swamp cabbage (Bot.), skunk cabbage. Swamp deer (Zo["o]l.), an Asiatic deer ( Rucervus Duvaucelli) of India. Swamp hen. (Zo["o]l.)

  1. An Australian azure-breasted bird ( Porphyrio bellus); -- called also goollema.

  2. An Australian water crake, or rail ( Porzana Tabuensis); -- called also little swamp hen.

  3. The European purple gallinule.

    Swamp honeysuckle (Bot.), an American shrub ( Azalea viscosa syn. Rhododendron viscosa or Rhododendron viscosum) growing in swampy places, with fragrant flowers of a white color, or white tinged with rose; -- called also swamp pink and white swamp honeysuckle.

    Swamp hook, a hook and chain used by lumbermen in handling logs. Cf. Cant hook.

    Swamp itch. (Med.) See Prairie itch, under Prairie.

    Swamp laurel (Bot.), a shrub ( Kalmia glauca) having small leaves with the lower surface glaucous.

    Swamp maple (Bot.), red maple. See Maple.

    Swamp oak (Bot.), a name given to several kinds of oak which grow in swampy places, as swamp Spanish oak ( Quercus palustris), swamp white oak ( Q. bicolor), swamp post oak ( Q. lyrata).

    Swamp ore (Min.), bog ore; limonite.

    Swamp partridge (Zo["o]l.), any one of several Australian game birds of the genera Synoicus and Excalfatoria, allied to the European partridges.

    Swamp robin (Zo["o]l.), the chewink.

    Swamp sassafras (Bot.), a small North American tree of the genus Magnolia ( M. glauca) with aromatic leaves and fragrant creamy-white blossoms; -- called also sweet bay.

    Swamp sparrow (Zo["o]l.), a common North American sparrow ( Melospiza Georgiana, or M. palustris), closely resembling the song sparrow. It lives in low, swampy places.

    Swamp willow. (Bot.) See Pussy willow, under Pussy.