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Daw

(Science: zoology) a European bird of the Crow family (Corvus monedula), often nesting in church towers and ruins; a jackdaw. The loud daw, his throat displaying, draw The whole assembly of his fellow daws. (Waller)

The daw was reckoned as a silly bird, and a daw meant a simpleton. See in Shakespeare: Then thou dwellest with daws too.

Origin: oe. Dawe; akin to OHG. Taha, MHG. Tahe, tahele, g. Dohle. Cf. Caddow.