mĕrŭla, ae, f. (post-class. collat. form mĕrŭlus, i, m., Auct. Carm. Philom. 13), a blackbird, ousel, merle.
I Lit.: evolare merulas, Cic. Fin. 5, 15, 42: ut merula, quia sola volat, quasi mera volans nominaretur, Quint. 1, 6, 38; cf. Plin. 10, 29, 42, § 80; 10, 30, 45, § 87; 10, 53, 74, § 147.—
II Transf.
A A fish, the sea-carp : merulae virentes, Ov. Hal. 114; cf. Plin. 32, 11, 53, § 149.—
B A kind of hydraulic machine that produced a sound like the note of the blackbird , Vitr. 10, 12.