a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 65 Tetritudo, blakhede.

c1450 ( H. Daniel Liber Uricrisiarum (Gloucester Cathedral 19) f. 31 That befallith whenne materyes narowith & streytith the wayes of the urine and thenne passith & stapith ther a way partyes that be subtile & small as powdre & dust whiche small subtile partyes in as myche as thay ben blake thay cause blachede in the urine.

1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) ii. 1088 Meal-worms..seem to be bred to catch black-heads [L. Melanocephalas], and Nightingales.

1736 Compl. Family-piece iii. 444 The Black-Head is a white Pidgeon with a black Head.

1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia vi. 130 Besides these [birds] we have..The Widgeon, Sheldrach, or Canvas back, Black head.

1813 G. Montagu Suppl. Ornithol. Dict. at Gull—Black-headed Provincial [names]. Pickmire, Black-head, or Hooded-crow.

1844 W. H. Maxwell Wanderings in Highlands & Islands II. iii. 37 What obliging birds the black-heads are!

1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting xxv. 251 The black-heads tole the most readily.

1923 A. K. Haagner & R. H. Ivy Sketches S. Afr. Bird-life 86 These Bulbuls..are known by various ‘local’ or vernacular names such as ‘Tiptol’ in the Eastern Cape,..‘Topknot’ or ‘Black Head’ in Natal.

1962 W. R. Siegfried Some Protected Birds (1967) Pl. 169 (caption) Mountain Canary, Black-headed Canary, Black-head. A familiar bird of the dry western areas and a popular cage-bird.

2009 J.-M. Olivier et al. in K. Tockner et al. Rivers Europe vii. 273/2 Several other species [of gull in the Camargue] such as the common black-head have relatively stable populations.

1775 G. Motherby New Med. Dict. Asaphatum, a sort of serpigo, impetigo, or intercutaneous itch, generated in the pores like worms. When the skin is impressed, they come out like long threads, with black heads.]

1837 J. F. Palmer Gloss. in M. Palmer Dialogue Devonshire Dial. Blackhead, a boil or pinswell, from the black spot which appears at the apex.

1847 J. F. South tr. J. M. Chelius Syst. Surg. II. 698 The most simple form of sebaceous tumour..is that commonly seen on the sides of the nose.., the tops of which becoming blackened, have given rise to their vulgar name ‘black heads’.

1886 Times 7 Jan. 16/1 (advt.) Sulpholine lotion attacks old, deep-seated skin complaints,..prurigo, tetter, pityriasis, scaly formations, blackheads, acne in any phase.

1910 Daily Chron. 15 Jan. 9/1 Sometimes blackheads gather in the forehead lines,..they must be pressed out with the blackhead instrument, if steaming and massage fail to remove them.

1974 S. King Carrie (1975) 43 She hated her face, her dull, stupid, bovine face, the vapid eyes, the red, shiny pimples, the nests of blackheads.

2006 Teen Now Spring 42/3 To make matters worse, the tubes that hold each hair can become partially blocked, giving you blackheads.

1842 G. P. R. Pulman Rustic Sketches 48 On the Axe the only kind of worm-bait used is the blackhead or bluehead.

1875 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports (ed. 12) i. v. ii. §3 A variety of this [marsh] worm..is called in Scotland the Black-head.

1905 R. F. Meysey-Thompson Fishing Catech. 42 Q. What worm is the best to use? A. The black-head is far the best.

1850 Phytologist 3 1007 Besides the more universal names of Cat's-tail, Reed-mace, and sometimes (but erroneously) Bulrush, by which this genus is known, the pistillate flower-spikes are called in this island Black-puddings, Blackamoors, Black-heads and Bacco-bolts.

1890 Ann. Rep. Proc. Belfast Naturalists' Field Club 1889–90 185 The reedmace (Typha latifolia), popularly known as Blackheads, flourishes abundantly.

1897 Garden 23 Jan. 66/2 Its rich velvety heads—‘black heads’ as they are sometimes called—make a very striking foil or contrast to..the silvery spikes of the Pampass Grass.

1894 Amer. Agriculturist 54 27/3 The black-head disease of turkeys has for some years been doing great destruction in Southern New England.

1894 9th Ann. Rep. State Board Agric. (State of Rhode Island) 109 Turkeys dying of a disease called ‘Black Head’, have been found to have almost invariably, badly diseased livers.

1955 S. H. Gaiger & G. O. Davies Vet. Pathol. & Bacteriol. (ed. 4) xxiii. 468 In dealing with blackhead emphasis should be placed on prevention.

1980 W. Valgardson Gentle Sinners xv. 166 ‘That,’ Sam replied angrily, ‘means a pen on the other side of the yard or you'll have Blackhead.’

2005 L. S. Shapiro Pathol. & Parasitol. Vet. Technicians xv. 210 Turkeys (especially young turkeys) with blackhead disease become anorexic and have yellow, semisolid feces.

1775 B. Romans Conc. Nat. Hist. E. & W. Florida 302 However a bustard is in French called cutarde, and this is the name given by the French to the blackhead Canada goose.

c1792 Encycl. Brit. IX. 579/1 The ridibundus, pewit, or black-head gull.

1835 J. Martin New Gazetteer Virginia 483 A great variety of ducks as..the red head shoveler, the black head shoveler.

1891 Jackson's Oxf. Jrnl. 22 Aug. 3/6 With the black-head worm some good trout are being landed.

1907 W. J. Clarke Mod. Sheep 131 No matter by whom eaten, the mutton of the ‘Samoli’, or black-head sheep, is pronounced the best ever tasted.

1975 C. Calasibetta Fairchild's Dict. Fashion 323/1 Mocha,..glove leather made from skins of blackhead or whitehead sheep..and skins of Egyptian sheep.

2002 Waikato Times (Hamilton, N.Z.) (Nexis) 5 Nov. 11 Dorpers, a cross between the dorset horn sheep and the blackhead persian, were originally bred in South Africa.