The species are--_Austral English

Lesser F.-Ph.--

Petaurus breviceps.

Papuan Pigmy F.-Ph.--

Acrobates pulchellus (confined to Northern Dutch New

Guinea).

Pigmy F.-Ph.--

A. pygmaeuss.

Squirrel F.-Ph.--

Petaurus sciureus.

Taguan F.-Ph.--

Petauroides volans.

Yellow-bellied F.-Ph.--

P. australis.

<hw>Flying-Squirrel</hw>, n. popular name for a

Flying-Phalanger, Petaurus sciureus, Shaw, a marsupial

with a parachute-like fold of skin along the sides by which he

skims and floats through the air. The name is applied to

entirely different animals in Europe and America.

1789. Governor Phillip, `Voyage to Botany Bay,' c. xv. p. 151:

"Norfolk Island flying squirrel." [With picture.]

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i.:

"The flying squirrels are of a beautiful slate colour, with

a fur so fine that, although a small animal, the hatters here

give a quarter dollar for every skin."

1849. J. P. Townsend, `Rambles in New South Wales,' p. 37:

"The squeal and chirp of the flying squirrel."

1850. R. C. Gunn, `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van

Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 253:

"In the year 1845 I drew the attention of the Tasmanian Society

to the interesting fact that the Petaurus sciureus, or

Flying Squirrel, of Port Phillip, was becoming naturalized in

Van Diemen's Land. . . . No species of Petaurus is

indigenous to Tasmania. . . . It does not appear from all that

I can learn, that any living specimens of the Petaurus

schireus were imported into Van Diemen's Land prior to

1834; but immediately after the settlement of Port Phillip,

in that year, considerable numbers of the flying squirrel were,

from their beauty, brought over as pets by the early visitors."

1851. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 78:

"The flying squirrel, another of the opossum species of the

marsupial order, is a beautiful little creature, and disposed

over the whole of the interior of New South Wales: its fur is

of a finer texture than that of the opossum."

1855. W. Blandowski, `Transactions of Philosophical Society of

Victoria,' vol. i. p. 70:

"The common flying squirrel (Petaurus sciureus) is very

plentiful in the large gum trees near the banks of a creek or

river, and appears to entertain a peculiar aversion to the high

lands."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 90:

"Flying squirrel."

[Footnote]:

"The marsupial flying phalanger is so called by the

Australians."

<hw>Fly-Orchis</hw>, n. name applied in Tasmania to the

orchid, Prasophyllum patens, R. Br.

<hw>Forest</hw>, n. See quotation.

1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions into the Interior of

Eastern Australia,' vol i. p. 71 [Footnote]:

"A `forest' means in New South Wales an open wood with grass.

The common `bush' or `scrubb' consists of trees and saplings,

where little grass is to be found."

[It is questionable whether this fine distinction still exists.]

<hw>Forester</hw>, n. the largest Kangaroo, Macropus

giganteus, Zimm.

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' vol. ii. p. 27:

"There are three or four varieties of kangaroos; those most

common are denominated the forester and brush kangaroo."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 423:

"I called this river the `Red Kangaroo River,' for in

approaching it we first saw the red forester of Port

Essington."

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 67:

"And the forester snuffing the air

Will bound from his covert so dark."

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 15:

"We have never had one of the largest kind--the Forester

Kangaroo (Macropus gigantes)--tame, for they have been

so hunted and destroyed that there are very few left in

Tasmania, and those are in private preserves, or very remote

out-of-the-way places, and rarely seen. . . . The aborigines

called the old father of a flock a Boomer. These were often

very large: about five feet high in their usual position, but

when standing quite up, they were fully six feet . . . and

weighing 150 or 200 pounds."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xix. p. 181:

"The dogs . . . made for them as if they had been a brace of

stray foresters from the adjacent ranges."

<hw>Forest-Oak</hw>, n. See Oak.

Forget-me-not, n. The species of this familiar flower is

Myosotis australis, R. Br., N.O. Asperifoliae.

<hw>Fortescue</hw>, or <hw>40-skewer</hw>, n. a fish of

New South Wales, Pentaroge marmorata, Cuv. and Val.,

family Scorpaenidae; called also the Scorpion,

and the Cobbler. All its names allude to the thorny

spines of its fins. The name Fortescue is an adaptation

of Forty-skewer by the law of Hobson-Jobson.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,'

p. 49:

"Of this fish Mr. Hill says: The scorpion or Fortescue, as

these fish are popularly termed by fishermen, have been known

for a long time, and bear that name no doubt in memory of the

pain they have hitherto inflicted; and for its number and array

of prickles it enjoys in this country the alias

`Forty-skewer' or `Fortescure.' "

1896. F. G. Aflalo, `Natural History of Australia,' p. 228:

"Fortescue is a terrible pest, lurking among the

debris in the nets and all but invisible, its spines

standing erect in readiness for the unwary finger. And so

intense is the pain inflicted by a stab, that I have seen a

strong man roll on the ground crying out like a madman."

<hw>Forty-legs</hw>, n. name given to a millipede,

Cermatia smithii.

<hw>Forty-spot</hw>, n. name for a bird,

a Pardalote (q.v.). Pardalote itself means

spotted "like the pard." See also Diamond-bird.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 37:

"Pardalotus quadragintus, Gould, Forty-spotted

pardalote. Forty-spot, Colonists of Van Diemen's Land."

1896. `The Australasian,' Aug. 28, p. 407, col. 5:

"`Lyre bird' is obvious; so, too, is `forty-spot'; only one

wonders why the number 40 was pitched upon. Was it a guess?

Or did the namer first shoot the bird and count?"

<hw>Fossick</hw>, v. intrans. to dig, but with special

meanings. Derived, like fosse, a ditch, and

fossil, through French from Lat. fossus, perfect

part. of fodere, to dig. Fossicking as

pres. part., or as verbal noun, is commoner than the other

parts of the verb.

(1) To pick out gold.

1852. W. H. Hall, `Practical Experiences at the Diggings in

Victoria,' p. 16:

"Or fossicking (picking out the nuggets from the interstices

of the slate formation) with knives and trowels."

(2) To dig for gold on abandoned claims or in waste-heaps.

1865. F. H. Nixon, `Peter Perfume,' p. 59:

"They'll find it not quite so `welly good'

As their fossicking freak at the Buckland."

1873. A.Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. xix. p. 286:

"Here we found about a dozen Chinamen `fossicking' after gold

amidst the dirt of the river, which had already been washed by

the first gold-seekers."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 22:

"He commenced working along with several companions at surface

digging and fossicking."

1894. `The Argus,' March 14, p. 4, col. 6:

"The easiest and simplest of all methods is `fossicking.' An

old diggings is the place for this work, because there you will

learn the kind of country, formation, and spots to look for

gold when you want to break new ground. `Fossicking' means

going over old workings, turning up boulders, and taking the

clay from beneath them, exploring fissures in the rock, and

scraping out the stuff with your table knife, using your pick

to help matters. Pulling up of trees, and clearing all soil

from the roots, scraping the bottoms of deserted holes, and

generally keeping your eye about for little bits of ground

left between workings by earlier miners who were in too great

a hurry looking after the big fish to attend much to small fry."

(3) To search for gold generally, even by stealing.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 60:

"A number of idle and disorderly fellows had introduced a

practice which was termed `fossicking.' . . . In the dead

hours of midnight they issued forth, provided with wax tapers,

and, entering upon the ground, stole the auriferous earth."

(4) To search about for anything, to rummage.

1870. S. Lemaitre, `Songs of Goldfields,' p. 14:

"He ran from the flat with an awful shout

Without waiting to fossick the coffin lid out."

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 2, p. 4, col. 3:

"Half the time was spent in fossicking for sticks."

1891. `The Argus,' Dec. 19, p. 4, col. 2:

"I was . . . a boy fossicking for birds' nests in the gullies."

1893. `The Australasian,' Jan. 14:

"The dog was fossicking about."

<hw>Fossicker</hw>, n. one who fossicks, sc. works

among the tailings of old gold-mines for what may be left.

1853. C. Rudston Read, `What I heard, saw, and did at the

Australian Gold Fields,' p. 150:

"The man was what they called a night fossicker, who

slept, or did nothing during the day, and then went round at

night to where he knew the claims to be rich, and stole the

stuff by candle-light."

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 87:

"I can at once recognize the experienced `fossickers,' who

know well how to go to work with every chance in their favour."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. ii. p. 32:

"Steady old fossickers often get more

Than the first who open'd the ground."

1869. R. Brough Smyth, `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 612:

"A fossicker is to the miner as is the gleaner to the reaper;

he picks the crevices and pockets of the rocks."

1891. `The Australasian,' Nov. 21, p. 1015:

"We had heard that, on this same field, years after its total

abandonment, a two hundred ounce nugget had been found by a

solitary fossicker in a pillar left in an old claim."

1891. `The Argus,' Dec. 19, p. 4, col. 2:

"The fossickers sluiced and cradled with wonderful cradles of

their own building."

<hw>Four-o'clock</hw>, n. another name for the

Friar-bird (q.v.).

<hw>Free-select</hw>, v. to take up land under the Land

Laws. See Free-selector. This composite verb, derived

from the noun, is very unusual. The word generally used is

to select.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xix. p. 134:

"Everything which he could have needed had he proceeded to

free-select an uninhabited island."

<hw>Free-selection</hw>, n. (1) The process of selecting

or choosing land under the Land Laws, or the right to choose.

Abbreviated often into Selection. See

Free-selector.

1865. `Ararat Advertiser' [exact date lost]:

"He was told that the areas open for selection were not on the

Geelong side, and one of the obliging officials placed a plan

before him, showing the lands on which he was free to choose a

future home. The selector looked vacantly at the map, but at

length became attracted by a bright green allotment, which at

once won his capricious fancy, indicating as it did such

luxurious herbage; but, much to his disgust, he found that `the

green lot' had already been selected. At length he fixed on a

yellow section, and declared his intention of resting satisfied

with the choice. The description and area of land chosen were

called out, and he was requested t0 move further over and pay

his money. `Pay?' queried the fuddled but startled bona

fide, `I got no money (hic), old `un, thought it was free

selection, you know.'"

1870. T. H. Braim, `New Homes,' ii. 87:

"A man can now go and make his free selection before survey of

any quantity of land not less than 40 nor more than 320 acres,

at twenty shillings an acre."

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 743:

"You may go to nine stations out of ten now without hearing

any talk but `bullock and free-selection.'"

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 82:

"His intention . . . was to take up a small piece of land

under the system of `free-selection.'"

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xx. p. 162:

"This was years before the free-selection discovery."

(2) Used for the land itself, but generally in the abbreviated

form, Selection.

1887. R. M. Praed, `Longleat of Kooralbyn,' vol. vi, p. 56:

"I've only seen three females on my selection since I took it

up four years last November."

<hw>Free-selector</hw>, n. (abbreviated often to

Selector), one who takes up a block of Crown land under

the Land Laws and by annual payments acquires the freehold.

[320 acres to Victoria, 640 in New South Wales.]

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. i. p. 21:

"Free selectors we shall be

When our journey's end we see."

1866. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 9:

"The very law which the free selector puts in force against the

squatter, the squatter puts in force against him; he selected

upon the squatter's run, and the squatter selects upon his

grazing right."

1873. Ibid. p. 33:

"Men who select small portions of the Crown lands by means of

land orders or by gradual purchase, and who become freeholders

and then permanently wedded to the colony."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 33:

"The condition of the free-selector--that of ownership of a

piece of land to be tilled by the owner--is the one which the

best class of immigrants desire."

1875. `Melbourne Spectator,' June 12, p. 70, col. 2:

"A public meeting of non-resident selectors has been held at

Rushworth."

1884. Marcus Clarke, `Memorial Volume,' p. 85:

"A burly free selector pitched his tent in my Home-Station

paddock and turned my dam into a wash."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xii. p. 116:

"No, no; I've kept free-selectors out all these years,

and as long as I live here I'll do so still."

<hw>Freezer</hw>, n. a sheep bred and raised in order

that its mutton may be frozen and exported.

1893. J. Hotson, Lecture in `Age,' Nov.30, p. 7, col. 2:

"In the breeding of what are in New Zealand known as `freezers'

there lies a ready means of largely increasing the returns from

our land."

<hw>Fresh-water Herring</hw>, n. In Sydney, the fish is

Clupea richmondia, Macl. Elsewhere in Australia, and in

Tasmania, it is another name for the Grayling (q.v.).

<hw>Fresh-water Perch</hw>, n. name given in Tasmania to

the fish Microperca tasmaniae.

<hw>Friar-bird</hw>, n. an Australian bird, of the genus

called Philemon, but originally named

Tropidorhynchus (q.v.). It is a honey-eater, and is

also called Poor Soldier and other names; see quotation,

1848. The species are--

Friar-Bird--

Philemon corniculatus, Lath. [Called also

Leather-head, q.v.]

Helmeted F.--

P. buceroides, Swains.

Little F.--

P. sordidus, Gould.

Silvery-crowned F.--

P. argenticeps, Gould.

Yellow-throated F.-

P. citreogularis, Gould.

Western F.--

P. occidentalis, Ramsay.

1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South

Wales,' p. 615 (Vocab.):

"Wirgan,--bird named by us the friar."

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,'

vol. xv. p. 324:

"Friar,--a very common bird about Paramatta, called by

the natives `coldong:' It repeats the words `poor

soldier' and `four o'clock' very distinctly."

1845. `Voyage to Port Phillip,' p. 53:

"The cheerful sedge-wren and the bald-head friar,

The merry forest-pie with joyous song."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 58:

"Tropidorhynchus Corniculatus, Vig. and Hors.

"From the fancied resemblance of its notes to those words,

it has obtained from the Colonists the various names of `Poor

Soldier,' `Pimlico,' `Four o'clock,' etc. Its bare head and

neck have also suggested the names of `Friar Bird,' `Monk,'

`Leather Head,' etc."

1855. W. Blandowski, `Transactions of the Philosophical Society

of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 64:

"The Tropidorhynchus corniculatus is well known to the

colonists by the names `poor soldier,' `leather-headed

jackass,' `friar-bird,' etc. This curious bird, in common with

several other varieties of honey-eaters, is remarkable on

account of its extreme liveliness and the singular resemblance

of its notes to the human voice."

<hw>Frilled-Lizard</hw>, n. See quotation.

1875, G. Bennett, `Proceedings of Royal Society of Tasmania,'

p. 56:

"Notes on the Chlamydosaurus or frilled-lizard of

Queensland (C. Kingii.) "

<hw>Frogsmouth</hw>, n. an Australian bird; genus

Podargus, commonly called Mopoke (q.v.). The

mouth and expression of the face resemble the appearance of a

frog. The species are--

Freckled Frogsmouth--

Podargus phaloenoides, Gould.

Marbled F.--

P. marmoratus, Gould.

Plumed F.--

P. papuensis, Quoy and Gaim.

Tawney F.--

P. strigoides, Lath.

1895. W. O. Legge, `Australasian Association for the

Advancement of Science' (Brisbane), p. 447:

"The term `Frogsmouth' is used in order to get rid of that very

objectionable name Podargus, and as being allied to the

other genera Batrachostomus and Otothrix of the

family Steatorninae in India. It is a name well suited

to the singular structure of the mouth, and presumably better

than the mythical title of `Goatsucker.' `Night-hawk,'

sometimes applied to the Caprimulginae, does not accord

with the mode of flight of the genus Podargus."

<hw>Frontage</hw>, n. land along a river or creek, of

great importance to a station. A use common in Australia, not

peculiar to it.

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July i8, p. 3, col. 7:

". . . has four miles frontage to the Yarra Yarra."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. iii. p. 29:

"Jack was piloted by Mr. Hawkesbury through the `frontage'

and a considerable portion of the `back' regions of Gondaree."

<hw>Frost-fish</hw>, n. name given in Australia and New

Zealand to the European Scabbard-fish, Lepidopus

caudatus, White. The name is said to be derived from the

circumstance that the fish is found alive on New Zealand

sea-beaches on frosty nights. It is called the

Scabbard-fish in Europe, because it is like the shining

white metal sheath of a long sword. Lepidopus belongs

to the family Trichiuridae, it reaches a length of five

or six feet, but is so thin that it hardly weighs as many

pounds. It is considered a delicacy in New Zealand.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 51:

"The frost-fish . . . the most delicately flavoured of all New

Zealand fishes, is an inhabitant of deep water, and on frosty

nights, owing probably to its air-bladders becoming choked, it

is cast up by the surf on the ocean-beach."

<hw>Fruit-Pigeon</hw>, n. The name is given to numerous

pigeons of the genera Ptilinopus and Carpophaga.

In Australia it is assigned to the following birds:--

Allied Fruit-Pigeon--

Ptilinopus assimilis, Gould.

Purple-breasted F.-P.--

P. magnifica, Temm.

Purple-crowned F.-P.--

P. superbus, Temm.

Red-crowned F.-P.--

P. swainsonii, Gould.

Rose-crowned F.-P.--

P. ewingii Gould.

White-headed F.-P.--

Columba leucomela, Temm.

And in New Zealand to Carpophaga novae-zealandiae, Gmel.

(Maori name, Kereru Kuku, or Kukupa.)

<hw>Fryingpan-Brand</hw>, n. a large brand used by

cattle-stealers to cover the owner's brand. See Duffer

and Cattle-Duffer.

1857. Frederic De Brebant Cooper, `Wild Adventures in

Australia,' p. 104:

". . . This person was an `old hand,' and got into some

trouble on the other side (i.e. the Bathurst side) by using a

`frying-pan brand.' He was stock-keeping in that quarter, and

was rather given to `gulley-raking.' One fine day it appears

he ran in three bullocks belonging to a neighbouring squatter,

and clapt his brand on the top of the other so as to efface

it."

<hw>Fuchsia, Native</hw>, n. The name is applied to

several native plants.

(1) In Australia and Tasmania, to various species of Correa

(q.v.), especially to Correa speciosa, And., N.O.

Rutaceae.

(2) In Queensland, to Eremophila maculata, F. v. M.,

N.O. Myoporineae.

(3) In New Zealand, to Fuchsia excorticata, Linn.,

N.O. Onagrariae. (Maori name, Kotukutuktu, q.v.).

See also Tooky-took and Konini.

1860. Geo. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia,'

pp. 371-2:

"The Correa virens, with its pretty pendulous blossoms (from

which it has been named the `Native Fuchsia'), and the Scarlet

Grevillea (G. coccinea) are gay amidst the bush flowers."

1880. Mrs.Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 23:

"I see some pretty red correa and lilac."

[Footnote]: "Correa speciosa--native fuchsia of Colonies."

1883. F. M. Bailey, `Synopsis of Queensland Flora,' p. 374:

"E. maculata. A . . . shrub called native fuchsia, and

by some considered poisonous, by others a good fodder bush."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 126:

"E. maculata. . . . Called `Native Fuchsia' in parts

of Queensland."

1892. `Otago Witness,' Nov. 24, `Native Trees':

"A species of native fuchsia that is coming greatly into favour

is called [Fuchsia] Procumbens. It is a lovely pot plant, with

large pink fruit and upright flowers."

<hw>Full up of</hw>, adj. (slang), sick and tired of.

"Full on," and "full of," are other forms.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xxiii. p. 213:

"She was `full up' of the Oxley, which was a rowdy,

disagreeable goldfield as ever she was on."

<hw>Furze, Native</hw>, n. a shrub, Hakea ulcina,

R. Br. See Hakea.

<hw>Futtah</hw>, n. a settlers' corruption of the Maori

word Whata (q.v.).

1895. W.S. Roberts, `Southland in 1856,'p. 28:

"These stores were called by the Europeans futters,--but

the Maori name was Whata."

1896. `Southland Daily News,' Feb. 3:

"`Futtah is familiar as `household words.' There were always

rats in New Zealand--that is, since any traditions of its

fauna existed. The original ones were good to eat.

They were black and smooth in the hair as the mole of the Old

Country, and were esteemed delicacies. They were always

mischievous, but the Norway rat that came with the white man

was worse. He began by killing and eating his aboriginal

congener, and then made it more difficult than ever to keep

anything eatable out of reach of his teeth. Human ingenuity,

however, is superior to that of most of the lower animals, and

so the `futtah' came to be--a storehouse on four posts, each of

them so bevelled as to render it impossible for the cleverest

rat to climb them. The same expedient is to-day in use on

Stewart Island and the West Coast --in fact, wherever properly

constructed buildings are not available for the storage of

things eatable or destructible by the rodents in question."

<hw>Galah</hw>, n. a bird.(The accent is now placed

on the second syllable.) Aboriginal name for the Cacatua

roseicapilla, Vieill., the Rose-breasted

Cockatoo. See Cockatoo. With the first syllable

compare last syllable of Budgerigar (q.v.)

1890. `The Argus,' Sept. 20, p. 13, col. 5:

"They can afford to screech and be merry, as also the grey,

pink-crested galahs, which tint with the colours of the evening

sky a spot of grass in the distance."

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. xiv. p. 127:

"The galahs, with their delicate grey and rose-pink plumage,

are the prettiest parrots."

1891. Francis Adams, `John Webb's End,' p. 191:

"A shrieking flock of galahs, on their final flight before they

settled to roost, passed over and around him, and lifting up

his head, he saw how all their grey feathers were flushed with

the sunset light, their coloured breasts deepening into darkest

ruby, they seemed like loosed spirits."

<hw>Gallows</hw>, n. Explained in quotation. Common

at all stations, where of course the butchering is done on

the premises.

1866. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 64:

"The gallows, a high wooden frame from which the carcases of

the butchered sheep dangle."

<hw>Gang-gang</hw>, or <hw>Gan-gan</hw>, n. the

aboriginal word for the bird Callocephalon galeatum,

Lath., so called from its note; a kind of cockatoo, grey with a

red head, called also Gang-gang Cockatoo. See

Cockatoo.

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. i. Intro.

p. xxxviii:

"Upon the branches the satin-bird, the gangan, and various

kinds of pigeons were feeding."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. pl. 14:

"Callocephalon Galeatum, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Colonists

of New South Wales."

<hw>Gannet</hw>, n. the English name for the Solan

Goose and its tribe. The Australian species are--

The Gannet--

Sula serrator, Banks.

Brown G. (called also Booby)--

S. leucogastra, Bodd.

Masked G.--

S. cyanops, Sunder.

Red-legged G.--

S. piscator, Linn.

The species in New Zealand is Dysporus serrator, Grey;

Maori name, Takapu.

<hw>Garfish</hw>, n. In England the name is applied to

any fish of the family Belonidae. The name was

originally used for the common European Belone vulgaris.

In Melbourne the Garfish is a true one, Belone ferox,

Gunth., called in Sydney "Long Tom." In Sydney, Tasmania, and

New Zealand it is Hemirhamphus intermedius, Cantor.; and

in New South Wales, generally, it is the river-fish

H. regularis, Gunth., family Sombresocidae. Some

say that the name was originally "Guard-fish," and it is still

sometimes so spelt. But the word is derived from xGar,

in Anglo-Saxon, which meant spear, dart, javelin, and the

allusion is to the long spear-like projection of the fish's

jaws. Called by the Sydney fishermen Ballahoo, and in

Auckland the Piper (q.v.).

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 288:

"Charley brought me . . . the head bones of a large

guard-fish."

1849. Anon., `New South Wales: its Past, Present, and Future

Condition,' p. 99:

"The best kinds of fish are guard, mullet, and schnapper."

1850. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip,' c. iii. p. 44:

"In the bay are large quantities of guard-fish."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), June I9, p. 81, col.1:

"Common fish, such as trout, ruffies, mullet, garfish."

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,'

p. 83:

"Of the garfishes we have four species known to be found on our

coasts. One, Hemirhamphus regularis, is the favourite

breakfast fish of the citizens of Sydney. H. melanochir,

or `river garfish,' is a still better fish, but has become very

scarce. H. argentcus, the common Brisbane species

. . . and H. commersoni."

<hw>Gastrolobium</hw>, n. scientific name of a genus of

Australian shrubs, N.O. Leguminosae, commonly known as

Poison Bushes (q.v.). The species are--

Gastrolobium bilobum, R. Br.

G. callistachys, Meissn.

G. calycium, Benth.

G. obovatum, Benth.

G. oxylobioides, Benth.

G. spinosum, Benth.

G. trilobum, Benth.

All of which are confined to Western Australia. The species

Gastrolobium grandiflorum, F. v. M. (also called

Wall-flower), is the only species found out of Western

Australia, and extends across Central Australia to Queensland.

All the species have pretty yellow and purple flowers. The

name is from the Greek gastaer, gastros, the belly,

and lobion, dim. of lobos, "the capsule or pod

of leguminous plants." (`L. & S.')

<hw>Geebung</hw>, or <hw>Geebong</hw>, n. aboriginal

name for the fruit of various species of the tree

Persoonia, and also for the tree itself,

N.O. Proteaceae.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i.

p. 221:

"The jibbong is another tasteless fruit, as well as the five

corners, much relished by children."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition, p. 478:

"We gathered and ate a great quantity of gibong (the ripe fruit

of Persoonia falcata)."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' c. vi,. p. 176, 3rd

edition 1855:

"The geebung, a native plum, very woolly and tasteless."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 113:

"We gathered the wild raspberries, and mingling them with

geebongs and scrub berries, set forth a dessert."

1885. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 255:

"You won't turn a five-corner into a quince, or a geebung into

an orange."

1889. J. M. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 584:

"A `geebung' (the name given to the fruits of Persoonias,

and hence to the trees themselves)."

<hw>Gerygone</hw>, n. scientific and vernacular name of

a genus of small warblers of Australia and New Zealand; the new

name for them is Fly-eater (q.v.). In New Zealand they

are called Bush-warblers, Grey-warblers, etc.,

and they also go there by their Maori name of Riro-riro.

For the species, see Fly-eater and Warbler. The

name is from the Greek gerugonae, "born of sound," a word

used by Theocritus.

1895. W. O. Legge, `Australasian Association for the

Advancement of Science' (Brisbane), p. 447:

"[The habits and habitats of the genus] Gerygone

suggested the term Fly-eater, as distinguished from

Fly-catcher, for this aberrant and peculiarly

Australasian form of small Fly-catchers, which not only capture

their food somewhat after the manner of Fly-catchers, but also

seek for it arboreally."

<hw>Ghilgai</hw>, n. an aboriginal word used by white

men in the neighbourhood of Bourke, New South Wales, to denote

a saucer-shaped depression in the ground which forms a natural

reservoir for rainwater. Ghilgais vary from 20 to 100

yards in diameter, and are from five to ten feet deep. They

differ from Claypans (q.v.), in being more regular in

outline and deeper towards the centre, whereas Claypans

are generally flat-bottomed. Their formation is probably due

to subsidence.

<hw>Giant-Lily</hw>, n. See under Lily.

<hw>Giant-Nettle</hw>, i.q. Nettle-tree (q.v.).

<hw>Gibber</hw>, n. an aboriginal word for a stone.

Used both of loose stones and of rocks. The G is hard.

1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar,' p. x. [In a list

of `barbarisms']:

"Gibber, a stone."

[Pace Mr. Threlkeld, the word is aboriginal, though not

of the dialect of the Hunter District, of which he is speaking.]

1852. `Settlers and Convicts; or Recollections of Sixteen Years'

Labour in the Australian Backwoods,' p. 159:

"Of a rainy night like this he did not object to stow himself

by the fireside of any house he might be near, or under the

`gibbers' (overhanging rocks) of the river. . . ."

1890. A .J. Vogan, `Black Police,' p. 338:

"He struck right on top of them gibbers (stones)."

1894. Baldwin Spencer, in `The Argus,' Sept. 1, p. 4, col. 2:

"At first and for more than a hundred miles [from Oodnadatta

northwards], our track led across what is called the gibber

country, where the plains are covered with a thin layer of

stones--the gibbers--of various sizes, derived from the breaking

down of a hard rock which forms the top of endless low,

table-topped hills belonging to the desert sandstone

formation."

<hw>Gibber-gunyah</hw>, n. an aboriginal cave-dwelling.

See Gibber and Gunyah, also Rock-shelter.

1852. `Settlers and Convicts; or, Recollections of Sixteen

Years' Labour in the Australian Backwoods,' p. 211:

"I coincided in his opinion that it would be best for us to

camp for the night in one of the ghibber-gunyahs. These are

the hollows under overhanging rocks."

1863. Rev. R. W. Vanderkiste, `Lost, but not for Ever,' p. 210:

"Our home is the gibber-gunyah,

Where hill joins hill on high,

Where the turrama and berrambo

Like sleeping serpents lie."

1891. R. Etheridge, jun., `Records of the Australian Museum,'

vol. i. no. viii. p. 171:

"Notes on Rock Shelters or Gibba-gunyahs at Deewhy Lagoon."

<hw>Giddea</hw>, <hw>Gidya</hw>, or <hw>Gidgee</hw>, adj.

aboriginal word of New South Wales and Queensland for--

(1) a species of Acacia, A. homalophylla, Cunn. The

original meaning is probably small, cf. gidju,

Warrego, Queensland, and kutyo, Adelaide, both meaning

small.

(2) A long spear made, from this wood.

1878. `Catalogue of Objects of Ethno-typical Art in National

Gallery, Melbourne,' p. 46:

"Gid-jee. Hardwood spear, with fragments of quartz set

in gum on two sides and grass-tree stem. Total length, 7 feet 8

inches."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 51:

"Gidya scrubs."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 357:

"A. homalophylla. A `Spearwood.' Called `Myall'

in Victoria. . . . Aboriginal names are . . . Gidya, Gidia,

or Gidgee (with other spellings in New South Wales and

Queensland). This is the commonest colonial name . . . much

sought after for turner's work on account of its solidity and

fragrance. . . . The smell of the tree when in flower is

abominable, and just before rain almost unbearable."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 211:

"I sat . . . watching the shadows of the gydya trees lengthen,

ah! so slowly."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 37:

"Kind of scrub, called by the colonists gydya-scrub, which

manifests itself even at a distance by a very characteristic,

but not agreeable odour, being especially pungent after rain."

1896. Baldwin Spencer, `Home Expedition in Central Australia,'

Narrative, p. 22:

"We camped beside a water-pool on the Adminga Creek, which is

bordered for the main part by a belt of the stinking acacia, or

giddea (A. homalophylla). When the branches are freshly

cut it well deserves the former name, as they have a most

objectionable smell."

<hw>Gill-bird</hw>, n. an occasional name for the

Wattle-bird (q.v.).

1896. `Menu' for October 15:

"Gill-bird on Toast."

<hw>Gin</hw>, n. a native word for an aboriginal woman,

and used, though rarely, even for a female kangaroo. See

quotation 1833. The form gun (see quotation 1865) looks

as if it had been altered to meet gunae, and of course

generate is not derived from gunae, though it may be a

distant relative. In `Collins's Vocabulary' occurs "din, a

woman." If such a phonetic spelling as djin had been

adopted, as it well might have been, to express the native

sound, where would the gunae theory have been?

1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South

Wales,' Vocabulary, p. 612:

"Din--a woman."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 152:

"A proposition was made by one of my natives to go and steal a

gin (wife)."

Ibid. p. 153:

"She agrees to become his gin."

1833. Lieut. Breton, R.N., `Excursions in New South Wales,'

p. 254:

"The flying gin (gin is the native word for woman or female) is

a boomall, and will leave behind every description of dog."

1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar,' p. x:

"As a barbarism [sc. not used on the Hunter], jin--a wife."

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 8:

"A gin (the aboriginal for a married woman)."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 367:

"Gin, the term applied to the native female blacks; not from

any attachment to the spirit of that name, but from some (to

me) unknown derivation."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. I. c. iv.

p. 74:

"Though very anxious to . . . carry off one of their `gins,'

or wives . . . he yet evidently holds these north men in great

dread."

1847. J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,'p. 126, n.:

"When their fire-stick has been extinguished, as is sometimes

the case, for their jins or vestal virgins, who have charge of

the fire, are not always sufficiently vigilant."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 98:

"Gins--native women--from gune, mulier, evidently!"

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. 2, p. 46:

"The females would be comely looking gins,

Were not their limbs so much like rolling-pins."

1865. S. Bennett, `Australian Discovery,' p. 250:

"Gin or gun, a woman. Greek gunae and derivative words

in English, such as generate, generation, and the like."

1872. C. H. Eden, `MY Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 118:

"The gins are captives of their bow and spear, and are brought

home before the captor on his saddle. This seems the orthodox

way of wooing the coy forest maidens. . . . All blacks are

cruel to their gins."

1880. J. Brunton Stephens, `Poems' [Title]:

"To a black gin."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 23:

"Certain stout young gins or lubras, set apart for the purpose,

were sacrificed."

<hw>Ginger, Native</hw>, n. an Australian tree,

Alpinia caerulea, Benth., N.O. Scitamineae.

The globular fruit is eaten by the natives.

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 296:

"Fresh green leaves, especially of the so-called native ginger

(Alpinia caerulea)."

<hw>Give Best</hw>, v. Australian slang, meaning to

acknowledge superiority, or to give up trying at anything.

1883. Keighley, `Who are You?' p. 87:

"But then--the fact had better be confessed, I went to work

and gave the schooling best."

1887. J. Farrell, `How he Died,' p. 80:

"Charley gave life best and died of grief."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xviii. p. 174:

"It's not like an Englishman to jack up and give these fellows

best."

<hw>Globe-fish</hw>, n. name given to the fish

Tetrodon hamiltoni, Richards., family

Gymnodontes. The Spiny Globe-fish is

Diodon. These are also called Toad-fish (q.v.),

and Porcupine-fish (q.v.). The name is applied to other

fish elsewhere.

<hw>Glory Flower</hw>, or <hw>Glory Pea</hw>,

i.q. Clianthus (q.v.).

<hw>Glory Pea</hw>, i.q. Clianthus (q.v.).

<hw>Glucking-bird</hw>, n. a bird so named by

Leichhardt, but not identified. Probably the Boobook

(q.v.), and see its quotation 1827; see also under

Mopoke quotation, Owl, 1846.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 23:

"The musical note of an unknown bird, sounding like `gluck

gluck' frequently repeated, and ending in a shake . . . are

heard from the neighbourhood of the scrub."

Ibid. p. 29:

"The glucking bird--by which name, in consequence of its note,

the bird may be distinguished--was heard through the night."

Ibid. p. 47:

"The glucking-bird and the barking owl were heard throughout

the moonlight nights."

Ibid. pp. 398, 399:

"During the night, we heard the well-known note of what we

called the `Glucking bird,' when we first met with it in the

Cypress-pine country at the early part of our expedition. Its

re-appearance with the Cypress-pine corroborated my supposition,

that the bird lived on the seeds of that tree."

<hw>Glue-pot</hw>, n. part of a road so bad that the

coach or buggy sticks in it.

1892. `Daily News,' London (exact date lost):

"The Bishop of Manchester [Dr. Moorhouse, formerly Bishop of

Melbourne], whose authority on missionary subjects will not be

disputed, assures us that no one can possibly understand the

difficulties and the troubles attendant upon the work of a

Colonial bishop or clergyman until he has driven across almost

pathless wastes or through almost inaccessible forests, has

struggled through what they used to call `glue-pots,' until he

has been shaken to pieces by `corduroy roads,' and has been in

the midst of forests with the branches of trees falling around

on all sides, knowing full well that if one fell upon him he

would be killed."

<hw>Goai</hw>, n. common name in southern island of New

Zealand for Kowhai (q.v.), of which it is a corruption.

It is especially used of the timber of this tree, which is

valuable for fencing. The change from K to G

also took place in the name Otago, formerly spelt Otakou.

1860. John Blair, `New Zealand for Me,':

"The land of the goai tree, mapu, and pine,

The stately totara, and blooming wild vine."

1863. S. Butler, `First Year in Canterbury Settlement,' p. 104:

"I remember nothing but a rather curiously shaped gowai-tree."

<hw>Goanna</hw>, <hw>Guana</hw>, and <hw>Guano</hw>, n.

popular corruptions for Iguana, the large Lace-lizard

(q.v.), Varanus varius, Shaw. In New Zealand, the word

Guano is applied to the lizard-like reptile Sphenodon

punctatum. See Tuatara. In Tasmania, the name is

given to Taliqua schincoides, White, and throughout

Australia any lizard of a large size is popularly called a

Guana, or in the bush, more commonly, a Goanna.

See also Lace-lizard.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. viii.

p. 285:

"Among other reptiles were found . . . some brown guanoes."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present state of Australia,' p. 118:

"At length an animal called a guana (a very large species of

lizard) jumped out of the grass, and with amazing rapidity ran,

as they always do when disturbed, up a high tree."

1864. J. Ropers, `New Rush,' p. 6:

"The shy guana climbs a tree in fear."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 99:

"A goanna startled him, and he set to and kicked the front of

the buggy in."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 139:

"And the sinister `gohanna,' and the lizard, and the snake."

<hw>Go-ashore</hw>, n. an iron pot or cauldron, with

three iron feet, and two ears, from which it was suspended by

a wire handle over the fire. It is a corruption of the Maori

word Kohua (q.v.), by the law of Hobson-Jobson.

1849. W. Tyrone Power, `Sketches in New Zealand with Pen and

Pencil,' p. 160:

"Engaged in the superintendence of a Maori oven, or a huge

gipsy-looking cauldron, called a `go-ashore.'"

1877. An Old Colonist, `Colonial Experiences,' p. 124:

"A large go-ashore, or three-legged pot, of the size and shape

of the cauldron usually introduced in the witch scene in

Macbeth."

1879. C. L. Innes, `Canterbury Sketches,' p. 23:

"There was another pot, called by the euphonious name of a

`Go-ashore,' which used to hang by a chain over the fire.

This was used for boiling."

<hw>Goborro</hw>, n. aboriginal name for Eucalyptus

microtheca, F. v. M. See Dwarf-box, under Box.

<hw>Goburra</hw>, and <hw>Gogobera</hw>, n. variants

of Kookaburra (q.v.).

<hw>Goditcha</hw>. See Kurdaitcha.

<hw>Godwit</hw>, n. the English name for birds of the

genus Limosa. The Australian species are--

Black-tailed G.,--

Limosa melanuroides, Gould;

Barred-rumped G.,--

L. uropygialis, Gould.

<hw>Gogobera</hw>, and <hw>Goburra</hw>, n. variants of

Kookaburra (q.v.).

<hw>Gold</hw>-. The following words and phrases compounded

with "gold" are Australian in use, though probably some are

used elsewhere.

<hw>Gold-bearing</hw>, verbal adj. auriferous.

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 13:

"A new line of gold-bearing quartz."

<hw>Gold-digging</hw>, verbal n. mining or digging for

gold.

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Gold. fields,' p. 36:

"There were over forty miners thus playing at gold-digging

in Hiscock's Gully."

<hw>Gold-digger</hw>, n.

1852. J. Bonwick [Title]:

"Notes of a Gold-digger."

<hw>Gold-fever</hw>, n. the desire to obtain gold by

digging. The word is more especially applied to the period

between 1851 and 1857, the early Australian discovery of gold.

The term had been previously applied in a similar way to the

Californian excitement in 1848-49. Called also Yellow

fever.

1888. A. J. Barbour, `Clara,' c. ix. p. 13:

"The gold fever coursed through every vein."

<hw>Gold-field</hw>, n. district where mining for gold

is carried on.

1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria, c. xv. p. 215:

"All were anxious to get away for the gold fields."

1880. G. Sutherland, [Title] `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 19:

"Edward Hargreaves, the discoverer of the Australian goldfields

. . . received L15,000 as his reward."

<hw>Gold-founded</hw>, part. adj. founded as the result

of the discovery of gold.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. ix. p. 91:

"I rode up the narrow street, serpentine in construction, as in

all gold-founded townships."

<hw>Gold-hunter</hw>, n. searcher after gold.

1852. G. S. Rutter [Title]:

"Hints to Gold-hunters."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. v. p. 48:

"I was not as one of the reckless gold-hunters with which

the camp was thronged."

<hw>Gold-mining</hw>, verbal n.

1852. J. A.Phillips [Title]:

"Gold-mining; a Scientific Guide for Australian Emigrants."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 23:

"He had already had quite enough of gold-mining."

<hw>Gold-seeking</hw>, adj.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xv. p. 150:

"The great gold-seeking multitude had swelled . . . to the

population of a province."

<hw>Golden Bell-Frog</hw>, n. name applied to a large

gold and green frog, Hyla aurea, Less., which, unlike

the great majority of the family Hylidae to which it

belongs, is terrestrial and not arboreal in its habits, being

found in and about water-holes in many parts of Australia.

1881. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria,'

Dec. 6, pl. 53:

"So completely alike was the sound of the Bell-frogs in an

adjoining pond at night to the noise of the men by day."

<hw>Golden-chain</hw>, n. another name for the

Laburnum

(q.v.).

<hw>Golden-eye</hw>, n. the bird Certhia

lunulatu, Shaw; now called Melithreptus lunulatus,

Shaw, and classed as White-naped Honey-eater (q.v.).

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,'

vol. xv. p. 315:

"`This bird,' Mr. Caley says, `is called Golden-eye by the

settlers. I shot it at Iron Cove, seven miles from Sydney,

on the Paramatta road.'"

<hw>Golden-Perch</hw>, n. a fresh-water fish of

Australia, Ctenolates ambiguus, Richards., family

Percidae, and C. christyi, Castln.; also called

the Yellow-belly. C. ambiguus is common in the

rivers and lagoons of the Murray system.

<hw>Golden-Rosemary</hw>, n. See Rosemary.

<hw>Golden-Wattle</hw>, n. See Wattle.

1896. `The Argus,' July 20, p. 5, col. 8:

"Many persons who had been lured into gathering armfuls

of early wattle had cause to regret their devotion to the

Australian national bloom, for the golden wattle blossoms

produced unpleasant associations in the minds of the wearers

of the green, and there were blows and curses in plenty.

In political botany the wattle and blackthorn cannot grow

side by side."

1896. `The Melburnian,' Aug. 28, p. 53:

"The last two weeks have been alive with signs and tokens,

saying `Spring is coming, Spring is here.' And though this

may not be the `merry month of May,' yet it is the time of

glorious Golden Wattle,--wattle waving by the river's bank,

nodding aloft its soft plumes of yellow and its gleaming golden

oriflamme, or bending low to kiss its own image in the brown

waters which it loves."

<hw>Goodenia</hw>, n. the scientific and popular name of

a genus of Australian plants, closely resembling the

Gentians; there are many species. The name was given by

Sir James Smith, president of the Linnaean Society, in 1793.

See quotation.

1793. `Transactions of the Linn.can Society,' vol. ii. p. 346:

"I [Smith] have given to this . . . genus the name of Goodenia,

in honour of . . . Rev. Dr. Goodenough, treasurer of

this Society, of whose botanical merits . . . example of

Tournefort, who formed Gundelia from Gundelscheimer."

[Dr. Goodenough became Bishop of Carlisle; he was the

grandfather of Commodore Goodenough.]

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 188:

"A species of Goodenia is supposed to be used by the

native gins to cause their children to sleep on long journeys,

but it is not clear which is used."

<hw>Goodletite</hw>, n. scientific name for a matrix in

which rubies are found. So named by Professor Black of

Dunedin, in honour of his assistant, William Goodlet, who was

the first to discover the rubies in the matrix, on the west

coast.

1894. `Grey River Argus,' September:

"Several sapphires of good size and colour have been found,

also rubies in the matrix--Goodletite."

<hw>Goondie</hw>, n. a native hut. Gundai = a

shelter in the Wiradhuri dialect. It is the same word as

Gunyah (q.v.).

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 204:

"There were a dozen `goondies' to be visited, and the inmates

started to their work."

<hw>Goose</hw>, n. English bird-name. The Australian

species are--

Cape Barren Goose--

Cereopsis novae-hollandiae, Lath. [Gould (`Birds of

Australia,' vol. vii. pl. 1) calls it the Cereopsis Goose, or

Cape Barren Goose of the Colonists.]

Maned G. (or Wood-duck, q.v.)--

Branta jubata, Lath.

Pied G.--

Anseranus melanoleuca, Lath.

Called also Magpie-Goose and Swan-Goose.

1843. J. Backhouse, `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian

Colonies,' p. 75:

"Five pelicans and some Cape Barren Geese were upon the beach

of Preservation Island [Bass Strait]."

<hw>Goose-teal</hw>, n. the English name for a very

small goose of the genus Nettapus. The Australian

species are--

Green,--

Nettapus pulchellus, Gould;

White-quilled,--

N. albipennis, Gould.

<hw>Gooseberry-tree</hw>, Little, n. name given to the

Australian tree Buchanania mangoides, F. v. M., N.O.

Anacardiaceae.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition, p. 479:

"My companions had, for several days past, gathered the unripe

fruits of Coniogeton arborescens, R. Br., which, when

boiled, imparted an agreeable acidity to the water. . . . When

ripe, they became sweet and pulpy, like gooseberries. . . .

This resemblance induced us to call the tree `the little

gooseberry-tree.' "

<hw>Gordon Lily</hw>, n. See under Lily.

<hw>Gouty-stem</hw>, n. the Australian

Baobab-tree (q.v.), Adansonia gregori, F. v. M.

According to Maiden (p. 60), Sterculia rupestris,

Benth., is also called Gouty-stem, on account of the

extraordinary shape of the trunk. Other names of this tree are

the Sour-gourd, and the Cream-of-tartar tree.

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. II. c. iii.

p. 115:

"The gouty-stem tree . . . bears a very fragrant white flower, not

unlike the jasmine." [Illustration given at p. 116.]

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and

Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 2S9 [Note]:

"This tree is distinguished by the extraordinary swollen

appearance of the stem, which looks as though the tree were

diseased or the result of a freak of nature. The youngest as

well as the oldest trees have the same deformed appearance, and

inside the bark is a soft juicy pulp instead of wood, which is

said to be serviceable as an article of food. The stem of the

largest tree at Careening Bay was twenty-nine feet in girth; it

is named the Adansonia digitata. A species is found in

Africa. In Australia it occurs only on the north coast."

<hw>Government</hw>, n. a not unusual contraction of

"Government service," used by contractors and working men.

<hw>Government men</hw>, n. an obsolete euphemistic name

for convicts, especially for assigned servants (q.v.).

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 122:

"Three government men or convicts."

1852. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 127:

"Government men, as assigned servants were called."

<hw>Government stroke</hw>, n. a lazy style of doing

work, explained in quotations. The phrase is not dead.

1856. W. W. Dobie, `Recollections of a Visit to Port Phillip,'

p. 47:

"Government labourers, at ten shillings a-day, were breaking

stones with what is called `the Government stroke,' which is a

slow-going, anti-sweating kind of motion. . . ."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. ix. [near

end] p. 163:

"In colonial parlance the government stroke is that light and

easy mode of labour--perhaps that semblance of labour--which no

other master will endure, though government is forced to put up

with it."

1893. `Otago Witness,' December 2r, p. 9, col. 1:

"The government stroke is good enough for this kind of job."

1897. `The Argus,' Feb. 22, p. 4, col. 9:

"Like the poor the unemployed are always with us, but they have

a penchant for public works in Melbourne, with a good daily pay

and the `Government stroke' combined."

<hw>Grab-all</hw>, n. a kind of net used for marine

fishing near the shore. It is moored to a piece of floating

wood, and by the Tasmanian Government regulations must have a

mesh of 2 1/4 inches.

1883. Edward O. Cotton, `Evidence before Royal Commission on

the Fisheries of Tasmania,' p. 82:

"Put a graball down where you will in `bell-rope' kelp, more

silver trumpeter will get in than any other fish."

1883. Ibid. p. xvii:

"Between sunrise and sunset, nets, known as `graballs,' may be

used."

<hw>Grammatophore</hw>, n. scientific name for "an

Australian agamoid lizard, genus Grammatophora."

(`Standard.')

<hw>Grape, Gippsland</hw>, n. called also Native

Grape. An Australian fruit tree, Vitis hypoglauca,

F. v. M., N.O. Viniferae; called Gippsland Grape in

Victoria.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 66:

"Native grape; Gippsland grape. This evergreen climber yields

black edible fruits of the size of cherries. This grape would

perhaps be greatly improved by culture. (Mueller.)"

<hw>Grape, Macquarie Harbour</hw>, or <hw>Macquarie Harbour

Vine</hw> (q.v.), n. name given to the climbing shrub

Muehlenbeckia adpressra, Meissn. N.O. Polygonaceae.

Called Native Ivy in Australia. See under Ivy.

<hw>Grape-eater</hw>, n. a bird, called formerly

Fig-eater, now known as the Green-backed

White-eye (q.v.), Zosterops gouldi, Bp.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 82:

"Zosterops chloronotus, Gould, Green-backed Z.;

Grape and Fig-eater, Colonists of Swan River."

<hw>Grass</hw>, n. In Australia, as elsewhere, the name

Grass is sometimes given to plants which are not of the

natural order Gramineae, yet everywhere it is chiefly to

this natural order that the name is applied. A fair proportion

of the true Grasses common to many other countries in

the world, or confined, on the one hand to temperate zones, or

on the other to tropical or sub-tropical regions, are also

indigenous to Australia, or Tasmania, or New Zealand, or

sometimes to all three countries. In most cases such grasses

retain their Old World names, as, for instance,

Barnyard- or Cock-spur Grass (Panicum

crus-galli, Linn.); in others they receive new Australian

names, as Ditch Millet (Paspalum scrobitulatum,

F. v. M.), the `Koda Millet' of India; and still again certain

grasses named in Latin by scientific botanists have been

distinguished by a vernacular English name for the first time

in Australia, as Kangaroo Grass (Anhistiria

ciliata, Linn.), which was "long known before Australia

became colonized, in South Asia and all Africa" (von Muller),

but not by the name of the Kangaroo.

Beyond these considerations, the settlers of Australia, whose

wealth depends chiefly on its pastoral occupation, have

introduced many of the best Old-World pasture grasses (chiefly

of the genera Poa and Festuca), and many

thousands of acres are said to be "laid down with English

grass." Some of these are now so wide-spread in their

acclimatization, that the botanists are at variance as to

whether they are indigenous to Australia or not; the Couch

Grass, for instance (Cynodon dactylon, Pers.), or

Indian Doub Grass, is generally considered to be an

introduced grass, yet Maiden regards it as indigenous.

There remain, "from the vast assemblage of our grasses, even

some hundred indigenous to Australia" (von Muller), and a like

number indigenous to New Zealand, the greater proportion of

which are endemic. Many of these, accurately named in Latin

and described by the botanists, have not yet found their

vernacular equivalents; for the bushman and the settler do not

draw fine botanical distinctions. Maiden has classified and

fully described 158 species as "Forage Plants," of which over

ninety have never been christened in English. Mr. John

Buchanan, the botanist and draughtsman to the Geographical

Survey of New Zealand, has prepared for his Government a

`Manual of the Indigenous Grasses of New Zealand,' which

enumerates eighty species, many of them unnamed in English, and

many of them common also to Australia and Tasmania. These two

descriptive works, with the assistance of Guilfoyle's Botany

and Travellers' notes, have been made the basis of the

following list of all the common Australian names applied to

the true Grasses of the N.O. Gramineae. Some of

them of very special Australian character appear also elsewhere

in the Dictionary in their alphabetical places, while a few

other plants, which are grasses by name and not by nature,

stand in such alphabetical place alone, and not in this list.

For facility of comparison and reference the range and habitat

of each species is indicated in brackets after its name; the

more minute limitation of such ranges is not within the scope

of this work. The species of Grass present in

Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand are--

1. Alpine Rice Grass--

Ehrharta colensoi, Cook. (N.Z.)

2. Alpine Whorl G.--

Catabrosa antarctica, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

3. Bamboo G.--

Glyceria ramigera, F. v. M. (A.)

Called also Cane Grass.

Stipa verticillata, Nees.(A.)

4. Barcoo G. (of Queensland)--

Anthistiria membranacea, Lindl. (A.)

Called also Landsborough Grass.

5. Barnyard G.--

Panicum crus-galli, Linn. (A., not endemic.)

Called also Cockspur Grass.

6. Bayonet G.--

Aciphylla colensoi.(N.Z.)

Called also Spear-Grass (see 112), and

Spaniard (q.v.).

7. Bent G.--Alpine--

Agrostis muellerii, Benth. (A., N.Z., not endemic.)

Deyeuxia setifolia, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

8. Bent G.--Australian--

Deyeuxia scabra, Benth. (A., T., N.Z.)

9. Bent G.--Billardiere's--

D. billardierii, R. Br. (A., T., N.Z.)

10. Bent G.--Brown--

Agrostis carina, Linn. (N.Z.)

11. Bent G.--Campbell Island--

A. antarctica, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

12. Bent G.--Dwarf Mountain--

A. subululata, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

13. Bent G.--Oat-like--

Deyeuxia avenoides, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

14. Bent G.--Pilose--

D. pilosa, Rich. (N.Z.)

15. Bent G.--Slender--

Agrostis scabra, Willd. (A., T., N.Z.)

16. Bent G.--Spiked--

Deyeuxia quadriseta, R. Br. (A., T., N.Z.)

Called also Reed Grass.

17. Bent G.--Toothea--

D. forsteri, Kunth. (A., T., N.Z.)

18. Bent G.--Young's--

D. youngii, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

19. Blady G.--

Ipperata arundinacea, Cyr. (A.)

20. Blue G.--

Andropogon annulatus, Forst. (A.)

A. pertusus, Willd. (A.)

A. sericeus, R. Br. (A.)

21. Brome G.--Seaside.--

8romus arenarius, Labill. (A., N.Z.)

Called also Wild Oats.

22. Canary G.--

Phalaris canariensis. (A.)

23. Cane G.--

(i.q. Bamboo Grass. See 3.)

24. Chilian G.--

(i.q. Rat--tailed Grass. See 97.)

25. Cockspur G.--

(i.q. Barnyard Grass. See 5.)

26. Couch G.--

Cynodon dactylon, Pers. (A., not endemic.)

Called also Indian Doub Grass.

27. Couch G.--Native--

Distichlys maritima, Raffinesque. (A.)

28. Couch G.--Water--

(i.q. Seaside Millet. See 50.)

29. Feather G.--

(Several species of Stipa. See 101.)

30. Fescue G.--Hard--

Festuca duriuscula, Linn. (Australasia, not endemic.)

31. Fescue G.--Poa-like--

F. scoparia, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

32. Fescue G.--Sandhill--

F. littoralis, R. Br., var. triticoides,

Benth. (A., T., N.Z.)

33. Fescue G.--Sheeps'--

F. ovina, Linn. (A., T.)

34. Finger G.--Cocksfoot--

Panicum sanguinale, Linn. (A., not endemic.)

Called also Hairy Finger Grass, and Reddish Panic

Grass.

35. Finger G.--Egyptian--

Eleusine aegyptica, Pers. (A., not endemic.)

36. Finger G.--Hairy--

(i.q .Cocksfoot Finger Grass. See 33.)

37. Foxtail G.--

(i.q. Knee jointed Foxtazl Grass. See 42.)

38. Hair G.--Crested--

Koeleria cristata, Pers. (A., T., N.Z.)

39. Hair G.--Turfy--

Deschampia caespitosa, Beavo. (N.Z., not endemic.)

40. Holy G.--

Hierochloe alpina, Roem. & Schult. (Australasia, not

endemic.)

41. Indian Doub G.--

(i.q. Couch Grass. See 26.)

42. Kangaroo G. (A., T., not endemic)--

Andropogon refractus, R. Br.

Anthistiria avenacea, F. v. M. (Called also Oat

Grass.)

A. ciliata, Linn. (Common K.G.)

A. frondosa, R. Br. (Broad-leaved K.G.)

43. Knee-jointed Fox-tail G.--

Alopecurus geniculatus, Linn. (Australasia, not

endemic.)

44. Landsborough G.--

(i.q. Barcoo Grass. See 4.)

45. Love G.--Australian--

Eragrostis brownii, Nees. (A.)

46. Manna G.--

Glyceria fluitans, R. Br. (A.,T.)

47. Millet--Australian--

Panicum decompositum, R. Br. (A., not endemic.)

Called also Umbrella Grass.

48. Millet--Ditch--

Paspalum scrobitulatum, F. v. M. (A., N.Z., not endemic.)

The Koda Millet of India.

49. Millet--Equal-glumed--

Isachne australis, R. Br. (A., N.Z., not endemic.)

50. Millet-Seaside--

Paspalum distichum, Burmann. (A., N.Z., not endemic.)

Called also Silt Grass, and Water Couch Grass.

51. Mitchell G.--

Astrebla elymoides, F. v. M. (A., True Mitchell

Grass.)

A. pectinata, F. v. M. (A.)

A. tritzcoides, F. v. M. (A.)

52. Mouse G.--

(i.q.) Longhaired Plume Grass. See 72.)

53. Mulga G.--

Danthonia racemosa, R. Br. (A.)

Neurachnea Mitchelliana, Nees. (A.)

54. New Zealand Wind G.--

Apera arundinacea, Palisot. (N.Z., not endemic.)

55. Oat G.--

Anthistiria avenacea, F. v. M. (Called also Kangaroo

Grass. See 41.)

56. Oat G.--Alpine--

Danthonia semi-annularis, R. Br., var. alpina.

(N.Z.)

57. Oat G.--Buchanan's--

D. buchanii; Hook. f. (N.Z.)

58. Oat G.--Few-flowered--

D. pauciflora, R. Br. (A., T., N.Z.)

59. Oat G.--Hard--

D. pilosa, R. Br., var. stricta. (N.Z.)

60. Oat G.--Naked--

D. nuda, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

61. Oat G.--New Zealand--

D. semi-annularis, R. Br. (A., T., N.Z.)

62. Oat G.--Purple-awned--

D. pilosa, R. Br. (A., T., N.Z.)

63. Oat G.--Racemed--

D. pilosa, R. Br., var. racemosa. (N.Z.)

64. Oat G.--Shining--

Trisetum antarcticum, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

65. Oat G.--Sheep--

Danthonia semi-annularis, R. Br., var. gracilis.(N.Z.)

66. Oat G.--Spiked--

Trisetum subspicatum, Beauv. (Australasia, not

endemic.)

67. Oat G.--Thompson's Naked--

Danthonia thomsonii (new species).

68. Oat G.--Wiry-leaved--

D. raoulii, Steud, var. Australis, Buchanan. (N.Z.)

69. Oat G.--Young's--

Trisetum youngii, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

70. Panic G.--Reddish--

(i.q. Cocksfoot Finger-Grass. See 34.)

71. Panic G.--Slender--

Oplismenus salarius, var. Roem. and Schult. (A., N.Z.,

not endemic.)

72. Paper G.--Native--

Poa caespitosa, Forst. (A., T., N.Z.)

Called also Wiry Grass, Weeping Polly,

and Tussock Poa Grass; and, in New Zealand,

Snow Grass.

73. Plume G.--Long-haired--

Dichelachne crinita, Hook. f. (A., T., N.Z.)

74. Plume G.--Short-haired--

D. sciurea, Hook. f. (A., T., N.Z.)

75. Poa G.--Auckland Island--

Poa foliosa, Hook. f., var. a. (N.Z.)

76. Poa G.--Brown-flowered--

P. lindsayi, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

77. Poa G.--Brown Mountain

P. mackayi (new species). (N.Z.)

78. Poa G.--Colenso's--

P. colensoi, Hook. f.(N.Z.) 79.

79. Poa G.--Common Field--

P. anceps, Forst., var. b, foliosa, Hook. f.

(N.Z.)

80. Pea G.--Dense-flowered

P. anceps, Forst., var. d, densiflora,

Hook. f. (N.Z.)

81. Poa G.--Dwarf--

P. pigmaea (new species). (N.Z.)

82. Pea G.--Hard short-stemmed--

P. anceps, Forst., var. c, brevicalmis,

Hook. f. (N.Z.)

83. Poa G.--Kirk's--

P. kirkii (new species). (N.Z.)

84. Poa G.--Large-flowered--

P. foliosa, Hook. f., var. B. (N.Z.)

85. Poa G.--Little--

P. exigua, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

86. Poa G.--Minute--

P, foliosa, Hook. f., var. C. (N.Z.)

87. Poa G.--Minute Creeping--

P. pusilla, Berggren. (N.Z.)

88. Pea G.--Nodding Plumed--

P. anceps, Forst., var. A, elata,

Hook. f. (N.Z.)

89. Poa G.--One-flowered--

P. unifora (new species). (N.Z.)

90. Poa G.--Short-glumed--

P. breviglumus, Hook. f.(N.Z.)

91. Poa G.--Slender--

P. anceps, Forst., var. E, debilis, Kirk,

Ms. (N.Z.)

92. Poa G.--Small Tussock--

P. intemedia (new species). (N.Z.)

93. Poa G.--Tussock--

P. caespitosa, Forst. (A., T., N.Z. See 71.)

94. Poa G.--Weak-stemmed--

Eragrostis imbebecilla, Benth. (A., N.Z.)

95. Poa G.--White-flowered--

Poa sclerophylla, Berggren. (N.Z.)

96. Porcupine G. (q.v.)--

Triodia (various species).

97. Rat-tailed G.--

Sporobulus indicus, R. Br. (A., N.Z., not endemic.)

Called also Chilian Grass.

Ischaeum laxum, R. Br. (A.)

98. Reed G.--

Pragmites communis, Trin. (N.Z. See 16.)

99. Rice G.--

Leersia hexandria, Swartz. (A.)

100. Rice G.--Bush--

Microtaena avenacea, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

101. Rice G.--Knot-jointed--

M. polynoda, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

102. Rice G.--Meadow--

M. stipoides, R. Br. (A.,T., N.Z.)

Called also Weeping Grass.

103. Roly-Poly G.--

Panicum macractinum, Benth. (A.)

104. Rough-bearded G.--

Echinopogon ovatus, Palisot. (A., T., N.Z.)

105. Sacred G.--

Hierochloe redolens, R. Br. (Australasia, not endemic.)

Called also Scented Grass, and Sweet-scented

Grass.

106. Scented G.--

Chrysopogon parviforus, Benth. (A.) See also 105.

107. Seaside Brome G.--

(i.q. Brome Grass. See 21.)

108. Silt G.--

(i.q. Seaside Millet. See 50.)

109. Seaside Glumeless G.--

Gymnostychum gracile, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

110. Snow G. (q.v.)--

(i.q. Paper Grass. See 72.) (N.Z.)

111. Spear G. (q.v.)--

Aciphylla colensoi. (N.Z.)

Called also Spaniard (q.v.).

Heteropogon contortus, Roem. and Shult. (N.Z.),

and all species of Stipa (A., T.).

112. Spider G.--

Panicum divaricatissimum, R. Br. (A.)

113. Spinifex G. (q.v.)--

Spinifex hirsutus, Labill. (A., T., N.Z., not endemic.)

Called also Spiny Rolling Grass.

114. Star G.--Blue--

Chloris ventricosa, R. Br. (A.)

115. Star G.--Dog's Tooth--

C. divaricata, R. Br. (A.)

116. Star G.--Lesser--

C. acicularis, Lindl. (A.)

117. Sugar G.--

Pollinia fulva, Benth.(A.)

118. Summer G.--

(i.q. Hairy-Finger Grass. See 36.)

119. Sweet G.--

Glyceria stricta, Hook. f. (A., T., N.Z.)

120. Sweet-scented G.--

(i.q. Sacred Grass. See 105.)

121. Traveller's G. (N.O. Aroideae).--

(i.q. Settlers' Twine, q.v.)

122. Tussock G.--

(See 93 and 72.)

123. Tussock G.-- Broad-leaved Oat--

Danthonia flavescens, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

124. Tussock G.--Erect Plumed--

Arundo fulvida, Buchanan. (N.Z.) Maori name,

Tot-toi (q.v.).

125. Tussock G.--Narrow-leaved Oat--

Danthonia raoulii, Steud. (N.Z.)

126. Tussock G.--Plumed--

Arundo conspicua, A. Cunn. (N.Z.) Maori name,

Toi-toi (q.v.).

127. Tussock G.--Small-flowered Oat--

Danthonia cunninghamii, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

128. Petrie's Stipa G.--

Stipa petriei (new species). See 101. /?111?/ (N.Z.)

129. Umbrella G.--

(i.q. Australian Millet. See 47.)

130. Wallaby G.--

Danthonia penicileata, F. v. M. (A., N.Z.)

131. Weeping G.--

(i.q. Meadow Rice Grass. See 102.)

132. Weeping Polly G.--

(i.q. Paper Grass. See 72.)

133. Wheat G.--Blue--

Agropyrum scabrum, Beauv. (A., T., N.Z.)

134. Wheat G.--Short-awned--

Triticum multiflorum, Banks and Sol. (N.Z.)

135. White-topped G.--

Danthonia longifolia, R. Br. (A.)

136. Windmill G.--

Chloris truncata, R. Br. (A.)

137. Wire G.--

Ehrharta juncea, Sprengel; a rush-like grass of hilly

country. (A., T., N.Z.)

Cynodon dactylum, Pers.; so called from its knotted,

creeping, wiry roots, so difficult to eradicate in gardens

and other cultivated land. (Not endemic.) See 26.

138. Wiry G.--.

(i.q. Paper Grass. See 72.)

139. Wiry Dichelachne G.--

Stipa teretefolia, Steud. (A., T., N.Z.)

140. Woolly-headed G.--

Andropogon bombycinus, R. Br. (A.)

141. Vandyke G.--

Panicum flavidum, Retz. (A.)

<hw>Grass-bird</hw>, n. In New Zealand, Sphenoeacus

//sic. otherwhere Sphenaeacus GJC// punctatus, Gray, the

same as Fern-bird (q.v.); in Australia, Megalurus

(Sphenaeacus) gramineus, Gould.

<hw>Grass-leaved Fern</hw>, n. Vittaria elongata,

Swartz, N.O. Filices.

1883. F. M. Bailey, `Synopsis of Queensland Flora,' p. 693:

"Grass-leaved fern. . . . Frond varying in length from a few

inches to several feet, and with a breadth of from one to five

lines. . . . This curious grass-like fern may be frequently

seen fringing the stems of the trees in the scrubs of tropical

Queensland, in which situation the fronds are usually very

long."

<hw>Grass-Parrakeet</hw>, n. a bird of the genus

Euphema. The Australian species are--

Blue-winged Parrakeet

Euphema aurantia, Gould.

Bourke's P.--

E. bourkii, Gould.

Grass-P.--

E. elegans, Gould.

Orange-bellied P.--

E. chrysogastra, Lath.

Orange-throated P.--

E. splendida, Gould.

Red-shouldered P.--

E. pulchella, Shaw.

Warbling Grass-P.--

Gould's name for Budgerigar (q.v.).

See also Rock-Parrakeet (Euphema petrophila, Gould),

which is sometimes classed as a Grass-Parrakeet.

<hw>Grass-tree</hw>, n. (2) The name applied to trees

of the genus Xanthorrhoea, N.O. Liliaceae, of which

thirteen species are known in Australia. See also

Richea.

(2) In New Zealand Pseudopanax crassifolium, Seemann,

N.O. Araleaceae. When young, this is the same as

Umbrella-tree, so called from its appearance like the

ribs of an umbrella. When older, it grows more straight and

is called Lancewood (q.v.).

(3) In Tasmania, besides two species of Xanthorrhoea

the Grass-tree of the mainland, the Richea

dracophylla, R. Br., N.O. Epacrideae, found on Mount

Wellington, near Hobart, is also known by that name, whilst

the Richea pandanifolia, Hook., found in the South-west

forests, is called the Giant Grass-tree. Both these are

peculiar to the island.

(4) An obsolete name for Cordyline australis, Hook.,

N.O. Liliaceae, now more usually called Cabbage-

tree (q.v.).

1802. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales,'

vol. ii. p. 153:

"A grass tree grows here, similar in every respect to that

about Port Jackson."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 347:

"Yielding frequently a very weak and sour kind of grass,

interspersed with a species of bulrush called grass-trees,

which are universal signs of poverty.":

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' Vol II. c. iii. p. 54:

"The grass-tree is not found westward of the mountains."

1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions,' vol. ii. p. 303:

"We approached a range of barren hills of clay slate, on which

grew the grass-tree (Xanthorhoea) and stunted eucalypti."

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 74:

"The shimmering sunlight fell and kissed

The grass-tree's golden sheaves."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 132:

"Here and there, in moist places, arises isolated the

`grass-tree' or `cabbage-tree' (Ti of the natives; Cordyline

Australis)."

1874. Garnet Walch, `Head over Heels,' p. 80:

"The grass-trees in front, blame my eyes,

Seemed like plumes on the top of a hearse."

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 119:

"How strikingly different the external features of plants may

be, though floral structure may draw them into congruity, is

well demonstrated by our so-called grass-trees, which pertain

truly to the liliaceous order. These scientifically defined

as Xanthorhoeas from the exudation of yellowish sap, which

indurates into resinous masses, have all the essential notes

of the order, so far as structure of flowers and fruits is

concerned, but their palm-like habit, together with cylindric

spikes on long and simple stalks, is quite peculiar, and

impresses on landscapes, when these plants in masses are

occuring, a singular feature."

1879. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia' (ed. 1893), p. 52:

"The grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) are a peculiar feature

to the Australian landscape. From a rugged stem, varying from

two to ten or twelve feet in height, springs a tuft of drooping

wiry foliage, from the centre of which rises a spike not unlike

a huge bulrush. When it flowers in winter, this spike becomes

covered with white stars, and a heath covered with grass trees

then has an appearance at once singular and beautiful."

1882. A. Tolmer, `Reminiscences,' vol, ii. p. 102:

"The root of the grass-tree is pleasant enough to eat, and

tastes something like the meat of the almond-tree; but being

unaccustomed to the kind of fare, and probably owing to the

empty state of our stomachs, we suffered severely from

diarrhoea."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 43:

"Grass-trees are most comical-looking objects. They have a

black bare stem, from one to eight feet high, surmounted by a

tuft of half rushes and half grass, out of which, again, grows

a long thing exactly like a huge bullrush. A lot of them

always grow together, and a little way off they are not unlike

the illustrations of Red-Indian chiefs in Fenimore Cooper's

novels."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 59:

"It [Pseudopanax crassifolium, the Horoeka] is

commonly called lance-wood by the settlers in the North Island,

and grass-tree by those in the South. This species was

discovered during Cook's first voyage, and it need cause no

surprise to learn that the remarkable difference between the

young and mature states led so able a botanist as Dr. Solander

to consider them distinct plants."

1896. Baldwin Spencer. `Horne Expedition in Central

Australia,' Narrative, p. 98:

"As soon as the came upon the Plains we found ourselves in a

belt of grass trees belonging to a species not hitherto

described (X. Thorntoni). . . . The larger specimens

have a stem some five or six feet high, with a crown of long

wiry leaves and a flowering stalk, the top of which is fully

twelve feet above the ground."

[Compare Blackboy and Maori-head.

<hw>Grayling</hw>, n. The Australian fish of that name

is Prototroctes maroena, Gunth. It is called also the

Fresh-water Herring, Yarra Herring (in

Melbourne), Cucumber-Fish, and Cucumber-Mullet.

The last two names are given to it from its smell. It closely

resembles the English Grayling.

1880. W. Senior, `Travel and Trout,' p. 93:

"These must be the long-looked-for cucumber mullet, or fresh-

water herring. . . . `The cucumber mullet,' I explain,

`I have long suspected to be a grayling.'"

1882. Rev._I. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,'

p. 109:

"Though not a fish of New South Wales, it may be as well

to mention here the Australian grayling, which in character,

habits, and the manner of its capture is almost identical with

the English fish of that name. In shape there is some

difference between the two fish. . . . A newly caught fish

smells exactly like a dish of fresh-sliced cucumber. It is

widely distributed in Victoria, and very abundant in all the

fresh-water streams of Tasmania. . . . In Melbourne it goes by

the name of the Yarra herring. There is another species in New

Zealand."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 206:

"The river abounds in delicious grayling or cucumber fish,

rather absurdly designated the `herring' in this [Deloraine]

and some other parts of the colony [Tasmania]."

<hw>Grebe</hw>, n. common English bird-name, of the

genus Podiceps. The species known in Australia are--

Black-throated Grebe--

Podiceps novae-hollandiae, Gould.

Hoary-headed G.--

P. nestor, Gould.

Tippet G.--

P. cristataes, Linn.

But Buller sees no reason for separating P. cristatus

from the well-known P. cristatus of Europe. Some of

the Grebes are sometimes called Dabchicks (q.v.).

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 285:

"The Crested Grebe is generally-speaking a rare bird in both

islands."

<hw>Greenhide</hw>, n. See quotation. Greenhide

is an English tannery term for the hide with the hair on before

scouring.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 27:

"Drivers, who walked beside their teams carrying over their

shoulders a long-handled whip with thong of raw salted hide,

called in the colony `greenhide.'"

<hw>Greenie</hw>, n. a school-boys' name for Ptilotis

penicillata, Gould, the White-plumed Honey-eater.

1896. `The Australasian,' Jan. 11, p. 73, col. 1:

"A bird smaller than the Australian minah, and of a greenish

yellowish hue, larger, but similar to the members of the

feathered tribe known to young city `knights of the catapult'

as greenies."

1897. A. J. Campbell (in `The Australasian,'Jan. 23), p. 180,

col. 5:

"Every schoolboy about Melbourne knows what the `greenie'

is--the white-plumed honey-eater (P. penicillata). The

upper-surface is yellowish-grey, and the under-surface brownish

in tone. The white-plumed honey-eater is common in Victoria,

where it appears to be one of the few native birds that is not

driven back by civilisation. In fact, its numbers have

increased in the parks and gardens in the vicinity of

Melbourne."

<hw>Green-leek</hw>, n. an Australian Parrakeet. See

quotation.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. pl. 15:

"Polytelis Barrabandi, Wagl., Barraband's Parrakeet;

Green-leek of the colonists of New South Wales."

1855. R. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 123:

"We observed m the hollow trees several nests of the little

green paroquet,--here, from its colour, called the leek."

<hw>Green Lizard</hw>, n. sometimes called the

Spotted Green Lizard, a New Zealand reptile,

Naultinus elegans, Gray.

<hw>Green Oyster</hw>, n. name given in Queensland to

the sea-weed Ulva lactuca, Linn., N.O. Algae.

From being frequently found attached to oysters, this is

sometimes called "Green Oyster." (Bailey.) See Oyster.

<hw>Greenstone</hw>, n. popular name of Nephrite

(q.v.). Maori name, Pounamu (q.v.).

1859. A.S. Thomson, `Story of New Zealand,' p. 140:

"The greenstone composing these implements of war is called

nephrite by mineralogists, and is found in the Middle Island of

New Zealand, in the Hartz, Corsica, China and Egypt. The most

valuable kind is clear as glass with a slight green tinge."

1889. Dr. Hocken, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,'

p. 181:

"This valued stone--pounamu of the natives--nephrite, is found

on the west coast of the South Island. Indeed, on Captain

Cook's chart this island is called `T'Avai Poenammoo'--Te wai

pounamu, the water of the greenstone."

1892. F. R. Chapman, `The Working of Greenstone by the Maoris'

(New Zealand Institute), p. 4:

"In the title of this paper the word `greenstone' occurs, and

this word is used throughout the text. I am quite conscious

that the term is not geologically or mineralogically correct;

but the stone of which I am writing is known by that name

throughout New Zealand, and, though here as elsewhere the

scientific man employs that word to describe a totally

different class of rock, I should run the risk of being

misunderstood were I to use any other word for what is under

that name an article of commerce and manufacture in New

Zealand. It is called `pounamu' or `poenamu' by the Maoris,

and `jade,' `jadeite,' or `nephrite' by various writers,

while old books refer to the `green talc' of the Maoris."

<hw>Green-tops</hw>, n. Tasmanian name for the Orchid,

Pterostylis pedunculata, R. Br.

<hw>Green-tree Ant</hw>, n. common Queensland Ant.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 294:

"It was at the lower part of the Lynd that we first saw the

green-tree ant; which seemed to live in small societies in rude

nests between the green leaves of shady trees."

<hw>Green Tree-snake</hw>, n. See under Snake.

<hw>Grevillea</hw>, n. a large genus of trees of

Australia and Tasmania, N.O. Proteaceae, named in honour

of the Right Hon. Charles Francis Greville, Vice-President

of the Royal Society of London. The name was given by Robert

Brown in 1809. The `Century' Dictionary gives Professor

Greville as the origin of the name but "Professor Robert

K. Greville of Edinburgh was born on the 14th Dec., 1794,

he was therefore only just fourteen years old when the genus

Grevillea was established." (`Private letter from Baron

F. von Mueller.')

1851. `Quarterly Review,' Dec., p. 40:

"Whether Dryandra, Grevillea, Hakea, or the other

Proteaceae, all may take part in the same glee--

"It was a shrub of orders grey

Stretched forth to show his leaves."

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia, vol. iii. p. 138:

"Graceful grevilleas, which in the spring are gorgeous with

orange-coloured blossoms."

<hw>Grey-jumper</hw>, n. name given to an Australian

genus of sparrow-like birds, of which the only species is

Struthidea cinerea, Gould; also called

Brachystoma and Brachyporus.

<hw>Grey Nurse</hw>, n. a New South Wales name for a

species of Shark, Odontaspis americanus, Mitchell,

family Lamnidae, which is not confined to Australasia.

<hw>Gridironing</hw>, v</i. a term used in the province of

Canterbury, New Zealand. A man purchased land in the shape of

a gridiron, knowing that nobody would take the intermediate

strips, which later he could purchase at his leisure. In other

provinces free-selection (q.v.) was only allowed after survey.

<hw>Grinder</hw>, n. See Razor-grinder and

Dishwasher.

<hw>Groper</hw>, n. a fish. In Queensland, Oligorus

terrae-reginae, Ramsay; in New Zealand, O. gigas,

"called by the Maoris and colonists `Hapuku,'"

(Guenther)--a large marine species. Oligorus is a genus

of the family Percidae, and the Murray-Cod (q.v.)

and Murray Perch (q.v.) belong to it. There is a fish

called the Grouper or Groper of warm seas quite distinct

from this one. See Cod, Perch, Blue-Groper and

Hapuku.

<hw>Ground-berry</hw>, i.q. Cranberry (q.v.).:

<hw>Ground-bird</hw>, n. name given in Australia to any

bird of the genus Cinclosoma. The species are--

Chestnut-backed Ground-bird--

Cinclosoma castaneonotum, Gould.

Chestnut-breasted G.-b.--

C. castaneothorax, Gould.

Cinnamon G.-b.--

C. cinnamomeum, Gould.

Northern, or Black-vented G.-b.--

C. marginatum, Sharpe.

Spotted G.-b.--

C. punctatum, Lath., called by Gould Ground-Dove

(q.v.).

<hw>Ground-Dove</hw>, n. (1) Tasmanian name

for the Spotted Ground-bird (q.v.).

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 4:

"Cinclosoma punctatum, Vig. and Horsf., Spotted

Ground-thrush. In Hobart Town it is frequently exposed for

sale in the markets with bronze-wing pigeons and wattle-birds,

where it is known by the name of ground-dove . . . very

delicate eating."

(2) The name is given by Gould to three species of Geopelia.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. pls. 72, 73, 74:

"Geopelia humeralis, Barred-shouldered Ground-dove"

(pl. 72);

"G. tranquilla" (pl. 73);

"G. cuneata, Graceful Ground-dove" (pl. 74).

<hw>Ground-Lark</hw>, n. (1) In New Zealand, a bird also

called by the Maori names, Pihoihoi and Hioi.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 63:

"Anthus Novae Zelandiae, Gray, New Zealand Pipit;

Ground-Lark of the Colonists."

(2) In Australia, the Australian Pipit (Anthus

australis) is also called a Ground-lark.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii. pl. 73:

"Anthus Australis, Vig. and Horsf., Australian Pipit.

The Pipits, like many other of the Australian birds, are

exceedingly perplexing."

<hw>Ground-Parrakeet</hw>, n. See Parrakeet and

Pezoporus.

<hw>Ground-Parrot</hw>, n. (1) The bird Psittacus

pulchellus, Shaw. For the Ground Parrot of New Zealand,

see Kakapo.

1793. G. Shaw, `Zoology [and Botany] of New Holland,' p. 10:

"Long-tailed green Parrot, spotted with black and yellow,. . .

the Ground Parrot."

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,'

vol. xv. p. 278:

"The settlers call it ground-parrot. It feeds upon the ground."

Ibid. p. 286:

"What is called the ground-parrot at Sydney inhabits the scrub

in that neighbourhood."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 298:

"The ground-parrot, green, with mottlings of gold and black,

rose like a partridge from the heather, and flew low."

(2) Slang name for a small farmer. See Cockatoo,

n. (2).

<hw>Ground-Thrush</hw>, n. name of birds found all over

the world. The Australian species are--

Geocincla lunulata, Lath.

Broadbent Ground-Thrush--

G. cuneata.

Large-billed G.--

G. macrorhyncha, Gould.

Russet-tailed G.--

G. heinii, Cab.

<hw>Grub</hw>, v. to clear (ground) of the roots. To

grub has long been English for to dig up by the roots. It is

Australian to apply the word not to the tree but to the land.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 185:

"Employed with others in `grubbing' a piece of new land which

was heavily timbered."

1868. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Memory of 1834,' p. 10:

"A bit of land all grubbed and clear'd too."

<hw>Guana</hw>, or <hw>Guano</hw>, n. i.q. Goanna

(q.v.).

<hw>Guard-fish</hw>, n. Erroneous spelling of

Garfish (q.v.).

<hw>Gudgeon</hw>, n. The name is given in New South

Wales to the fish Eleotris coxii, Krefft, of the family

of the Gobies.

<hw>Guitar Plant</hw>, a Tasmanian shrub, Lomatia

tinctoria, R. Br., N.O. Proteaceae.

<hw>Gull</hw>, n. common English name for a sea-bird.

The Australian species are--

Long-billed Gull--

Larus longirostris, Masters.

Pacific G.--

L. pacificus, Lath.

Silver G.--

L. novae-hollandiae, Steph.

Torres-straits G.--

L. gouldi, Bp.

<hw>Gully</hw>, n. a narrow valley. The word is very

common in Australia, and is frequently used as a place name.

It is not, however, Australian. Dr.Skeat (`Etymological

Dictionary') says, "a channel worn by water." Curiously

enough, his first quotation is from `Capt. Cook's Third

Voyage,' b. iv. c. 4. Skeat adds, "formerly written

gullet: `It meeteth afterward with another gullet,'

i.e. small stream. Holinshed, `Description of Britain,' c. 11:

F. goulet, `a gullet . . . a narrow brook or deep gutter of

water.' (Cotgrave.) Thus the word is the same as gullet."

F. goulet is from Latin gula. Gulch is the word

used in the Pacific States, especially in California.

1773. `Hawkesworth's Voyages,' vol. iii. p. 532--Captain Cook's

First Voyage, May 30, 1770:

"The deep gullies, which were worn by torrents from the hills."

1802. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales,' vol. ii.

p. 214:

"A man, in crossing a gully between Sydney and Parramatta, was,

in attempting to ford it, carried away by the violence of the

torrent, and drowned."

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 17:

"The gums in the gully stand gloomy and stark."

1867. A.L. Gordon, `Sea-spray, etc.,' p. 134:

"The gullies are deep and the uplands are steep."

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for the Mail,' p. 16:

"The terrible blasts that rushed down the narrow gully, as if

through a funnel."

<hw>Gully-raker</hw>, n. a long whip.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 40:

"The driver appealing occasionally to some bullock or other by

name, following up his admonition by a sweeping cut of his

`gully-raker,' and a report like a musket-shot."

<hw>Gum</hw>, or <hw>Gum-tree</hw>, n. the popular name

for any tree of the various species of Eucalyptus. The

word Gum is also used in its ordinary English sense of

exuded sap of certain trees and shrubs, as

e.g. Wattle-gum (q.v.) in Australia, and

Kauri-gum (q.v.) in New Zealand. In America, the

gum-tree usually means "the Liquidambar styraciflua,

favourite haunt of the opossum and the racoon, whence the

proverbial possum up a gum-tree." (`Current

Americanisms,' s.v. Gum)