noun
Rare, old-fashioned word for 'bat'. Modern Japanese almost always uses こうもり.
古い文献では、蚊食鳥という言葉がコウモリを指すことがある。
In old documents, the word 蚊食鳥 sometimes refers to a bat.
The standard modern word for 'bat'. 蚊食鳥 is a rare, archaic synonym.
Compound of 蚊 (ka, 'mosquito'), 食い (kui, 'eating'), and 鳥 (tori, 'bird'), literally 'mosquito-eating bird'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it is an old name for bats.