[Echoic.] A South African species of waxbill (Estrilda dufresnii), so called from its note. So Swee-swee v. intr. to utter a note like the syllable ‘swee’ repeated; to chirp shrilly.
1839. Moir, Mansie Wauch, xxii. The grand carved roofs, where the swallows swee-sweed, as they darted through the open windows.
1908. Haagner & Ivy, Sk. S. Afr. Bird-Life, iv. 68. The Swee Waxbill (E[strilda] dufresnii) is the best known species in the South-eastern Province of Cape Colony.
1913. C. Pettman, Africanderisms, Swee,… Estrilda dufresnii. It owes its popular name to its cry of ‘swee-swee.’
