Austral English Part 285

"The wattle-bird sings in the leafy plantation."

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 119:

"The pretty, graceful wattle-birds are ... much esteemed for the table, cooked as snipe and woodc.o.c.ks are in England ... Our pretty, elegant wattle-bird wears a pair of long pendant drops, shaded from the deepest amber to white, lovelier than any goldsmith's work. Its greyish plumage, too, is very beautiful; the feathers on the breast are long, pointed, and tinted with golden yellow."

1890. Tasma, `In her Earliest Youth,' p. 265:

"The droll double note of the wattle-bird."

1890. `Victorian Statutes-Game Act' (Third Schedule):

"Close season. All Honey-eaters (except Wattle-birds and Leatherheads); from 1st day of August to loth day of December."

Wattle-gold, n. poetic name for the blossom of the Wattle.

1870. A. L. Gordon, `Bush Ballads, Dedn., p. 9:

"In the spring, when the wattle-gold trembles `Twixt shadow and shine."

1883. Keighley, `Who are You?' p. 54:

"My wealth has gone, like the wattle-gold You bound one day on my childish brow."

Wattle-gum, n. the gum exuding from the Wattles.

1862. W. Archer, `Products of Tasmania,' p. 41:

"Wattle-Gum, the gum of the Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata, Lindl.), is exceedingly viscous, and probably quite as useful as Gum-Arabic. The gum of the Black Wattle (Acacia mollissima, Willd.), which is often mixed with the other, is very often inferior to it, being far less viscous."

Wax-cl.u.s.ter, n. an Australian shrub, Gaultheria hispida, R. Br., N.O. Ericaceae. A congener of the English winter-green, or American checkerberry, with white berries, in taste resembling gooseberries; called also Chucky-chucky (q.v.), and Native Arbutus.

1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 133:

"Gaultheria hispida. The wax-cl.u.s.ter, abundant in the middle region of Mount Wellington, and in other elevated and moist situations in the colony. This fruit is formed by the thickened divisions of the calyx, enclosing the small seed vessel; when it is ripe it is of a snowy white. The flavour is difficult to describe, but it is not unpleasant. In tarts the taste is something like that of young gooseberries, with a slight degree of bitterness."

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 11 [Footnote]:

"Gaultheria hispida.--The `s...o...b..rry' or `Wax cl.u.s.ter'

is also called native Arbutus, from the form of the white flowers which precede the fruit. The latter is of a peculiar brioche-like form, and as the deep clefts open, the crimson seed-cells peep through."

Wax-Eye, i.q. one of the many names for the bird called Silver-Eye, White-Eye, Blight-Bird, etc. See Zosterops.

Waybung, n. aboriginal name for an Australian Chough, Corcorax melanoramphus, Vieill.

Weaver-bird, n. The English name Weaver-bird, in its present broad sense as applied to a wide variety of birds, is modern. It alludes to their dexterity in "weaving" their nests. It is applied in Australia to Callornis metallica, a kind of Starling.

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 96:

"The elegant, metallic-looking, `glossy starlings' (Callornis metallica) greedily swoop, with a horrible shriek, upon the fruit of the Australian cardamom tree. The ingenious nests of this bird were found in the scrubs near Herbert Vale--a great many in the same tree. Although this bird is a starling, the colonists call it `weaver-bird.'"

Wedge-bill, n. an Australian bird. This English name for a species of humming-bird is applied in Australia to Sphenostoma cristata, Gould.

1890. `Victorian Statutes--Game Act' (Third Schedule):

"Wedge-bill. [Close season.] From 1st day of August to 10th day of December next following in each year."

Weeping-Gum. See Gum.

Weeping-Myall, n. an Australian tree, Acacia pendula, Cunn., N.O. Leguminosae. See Myall.

Weka, n. the Maori name for the Wood-hen (q.v.) of New Zealand, so called from its note. There are two species--

South-Island Weka, or Wood-hen-- Ocydromus australis, Strick.

North-Island W., or W.-h.-- Ocydromus brachypterus, Buller.

The specimens intergrade to such an extent that precise limitation of species is extremely difficult; but Sir W. L.

Buller set them out as these two in 1878, regarding other specimens as varieties. The birds are sometimes called Weka-Rails, and the Maori name of Weka-pango is given to the Black Wood-hen (0. fuscus, Du Bus.).

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. ii.

p. 95:

"Two young weka, or wood-hens, about as large as sparrows ... were esteemed a valuable addition to our scanty supper."

1864. R. L. A. Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains' (edition 1884), p. 263:

"Wood-hens, or Waikas, are a great stand-by in the bush.

Their cry can be imitated, and a man knowing their language and character can catch them easily. They call each other by name, p.r.o.nounced `Weeka,' latter syllable being shrill and prolonged, an octave higher than the first note... . The wood-hen is about the size of a common barn-door fowl; its character is cunning, yet more fierce than cunning, and more inquisitive than either."

1865. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 28:

"Until the numbers of the wekas are considerably reduced. They are very like a hen pheasant without the long tail-feathers, and until you examine them you cannot tell they have no wings, though there is a sort of small pinion among the feathers, with a claw at the end of it. They run very swiftly, availing themselves cleverly of the least bit of cover."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 167:

"Another famous bird of chase with the natives is the weka (Ocydromus Australis), or the wood-hen, belonging to the cla.s.s of rails, which have already become quite scarce upon North Island. In the gra.s.sy plains and forests of the Southern Alps, however, they are still found in considerable numbers.

It is a thievish bird, greedy after everything that glistens; it frequently carries off spoons, forks, and the like, but it also breaks into hen-coops, and picks and sucks the eggs."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 286:

"Fortunately, the weka bears so obnoxious a character as an evil-doer that any qualm of conscience on the score of cruelty is at once stilled when one of these feathered professors of diablerie is laid to rest."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 105:

[A full description.]

1889. Vincent Pyke, `Wild Will Enderby,' p. 82:

"We-ki! we-ki! we-ka! Three times the plaintive cry of the `wood-hen' was heard. It was a preconcerted signal."