Flyer's second article abridged (4)
I believe the answer is:
moth
'flyer's' is the definition.
(something which flies)
'second article abridged' is the wordplay.
'second' becomes 'mo' (both are short periods of time).
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article in English).
'abridged' means to remove the last letter.
'the' with its last letter taken off is 'th'.
'mo'+'th'='MOTH'
(Other definitions for moth that I've seen before include "Lepidopteran" , "Fairy like 13" , "Insect attracted to light" , "One of 5 [FAIRIES]" , "Cloth-eating larva" .)