Zool. Pl. -a. [mod.L., f. avicula: see prec. and -ARIUM.] Name given to small prehensile processes shaped like birds’ heads with a movable mandible, which snap incessantly, found on the cells of many Polyzoa. Avicularian a., of or pertaining to avicularia.
1856. Gosse, Marine Zool., II. 4. They have been commonly called ‘Bird’s-head processes,’ avicularia.
1873. Darwin, Orig. Spec., vii. (ed. 5), 194. The presence of the upper or fixed beak alone serves to determine its avicularian nature.
