1892. E. W. Hornung, `Under Two Skies,' p. 114:
"He would give him a billet. He would take him on as a rabbiter, and rig him out with a tent, camp fixings, traps, and perhaps even a dog or two."
1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue—Economic Woods,' No. 61:
"Radish-Tree: occurs in the Mallee-scrub very sparingly; attaining a height of thirty feet. The poplar of the Central Australian explorers. Whole tree strong-scented."
1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xiv. p. 105:
"Amongst them was a large proportion of bullocks, which declined with fiendish obstinacy to fatten. They were what are known by the stockriders as `ragers,' or `pig-meaters'" [q.v.].
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvi. p. 196:
"Well, say a hundred off for ragers.'"
Banded Rail (N.Z. and A.)—Rallus philippensis, Linn.
Chestnut-bellied R. (A.)—Eulabeornis castaneiventris, Gould.
Dieffenbach's R. (see quotation below)—Rallus dieffenbachii, Gray.
Hutton's R. (N.Z.)—Cabalus modestus, Hutton.
Land R. (N.Z. and A.)—Rallus philippensis, Linn.
Marsh R. (Australasia)—Ortygometra tabuensis, Finsch. and Hard.
Pectoral R. (N.Z. and A.)—Rallus philippensis, Linn.
Red-necked R. (A.)—Rallina tricolor, Gray.
Slate-breasted R. (A.)—Hypotaenidia brachipus, Swains.
Swainson's R. (N.Z. and A.)—Rallina brachipus, Swains.
Swamp R. (Australasia)—Ortygometra tabuensis, Finsch. and Hard.
Tabuan R. (Australasia)—O. tabuensis, Finsch. and Hard.
Weka R. (N.Z. See Weka.)—
See also Takahe and Notornis.
1888. W.L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' p. 121:
"Dieffenbach's Rail. . . . This beautiful Rail was brought from the Chatham Islands by Dr. Dieffenbach in 1842, and named by Mr. Gray in compliment to this enterprising naturalist. The adult specimen in the British Museum, from which my description was taken, is unique, and seems likely to remain so."
1893. Prof Parker, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 116:
"Hutton's rail, the third of the endemic rails . . . is confined to the Chatham Islands."
1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 283:
"We discovered a nest of full-fledged birds of the Australian Shrike or Butcher-bird, also called Rain-bird by the colonists (Vanga destructor). They were regarded by our companions as a prize, and were taken accordingly to be caged, and instructed in the art of whistling tunes, in which they are great adepts."
1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 200:
"Ranga tira, a gentleman or lady."
1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' c. i. p. 173:
"I took care to tell them that the rangatira, or `chief' missionaries, would come out with the settlers."
Ibid. c. ii. p. 461:
"Rangatira is Maori for `chief,' and Rangatira-tango is therefore truly rendered `chieftainship.'"
1893. `Otago Witness, `Dec. 21, p. 11:
"Te Kooti is at Puketapu with many Rangatiras; he is a great warrior,—a fighting chief. They say he has beaten the pakehas" (q.v.).
1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 89:
"He tramps over the most rangy and inaccessible regions of the colonies."
1883. E. M. Curr, `Recollections of Squatting in Victoria' (1841-1851), p. 46:
"The country being rangy, somewhat scrubby, and destitute of prominent features."
1846. L. Leichhardt, quoted by J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 328:
"Plains with groves or thickets of the raspberry-jam-tree."
1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. ii. c. iv. p. 132:
"Raspberry-jam . . . acacia sweet-scented, grown on good ground."
1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. ii. p. 68:
"The other trees besides the palm were known to the men by colonial appellations, such as the bloodwood and the raspberry-jam. The origin of the latter name, let me inform my readers, has no connection whatever with any produce from the tree."
1896. `The Australasian,' Feb. 15, p. 313:
"The raspberry-jam-tree is so called on account of the strong aroma of raspberries given out when a portion is broken."
[On the same page is an illustration of these trees growing near Perth, Western Australia.]
The genus Hydromys contains the Eastern Water Rat, sometimes called the Beaver Rat (Hydromys chrysogaster, Geoffroy), and the Western Water Rat (H. fulvolavatus, Gould).
Conilurus contains the Jerboa Rats (q.v.).
Xeromys contains a single species, confined to Queensland, and called Thomas' Rat (Xeromys myoides, Thomas).
Mastacomys contains one species, the Broad-toothed Rat (M. fuscus, Thomas), found alive only in Tasmania, and fossil in New South Wales.
Uromys contains two species, the Giant Rat (U. macropus, Gray), and the Buff-footed Rat (U. cervinipes, Gould).
Mus contains twenty-seven species, widely distributed over the Continent and Tasmania.
1851. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 301:
"The Secretary read the following extracts from a letter of the Rev. W. Colenso to Ronald C. Gunn, Esq., of Launceston, dated Waitangi, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, 4th September, 1850:— `I have procured two specimens of the ancient, and all but quite extinct, New Zealand Rat, which until just now (and notwithstanding all my endeavours, backed, too, by large rewards) I never saw. It is without doubt a true Mus, smaller than our English black rat (Mus Rattus), and not unlike it. This little animal once inhabited the plains and Fagus forests of New Zealand in countless thousands, and was both the common food and great delicacy of the natives— and already it is all but quite classed among the things which were."
1880. A. R. Wallace, `Island Life,' p. 445:
"The Maoris say that before Europeans came to their country a forest rat abounded, and was largely used for food . . . Several specimens have been caught . . . which have been declared by the natives to be the true Kiore Maori—as they term it; but these have usually proved on examination to be either the European black rat or some of the native Australian rats . . . but within the last few years many skulls of a rat have been obtained from the old Maori cooking-places and from a cave associated with moa bones, and Captain Hutton, who has examined them, states that they belong to a true Mus, but differ from the Mus rattus."
In Maori, the adj. rata means red-hot, and there may be a reference to the scarlet appearance of the flower in full bloom. The timber of the Rata is often known as Ironwood, or Ironbark. The trees rise to sixty feet in height; they generally begin by trailing downwards from the seed deposited on the bark of some other tree near its top. When the trailing branches reach the ground they take root there and sprout erect. For full account of the habit of the trees, see quotation 1867 (Hochstetter), 1879 (Moseley), and 1889 (Kirk).
1843. E. Dieffenbach, `Travels in New Zealand,' p. 224:
"The venerable rata, often measuring forty feet in circumference and covered with scarlet flowers—while its stem is often girt with a creeper belonging to the same family (metrosideros hypericifolia?)."
1848. Rev. R. Taylor, `Leaf from the Natural History of New Zealand,' p. 21:
"Rata, a tree; at first a climber; it throws out aerial roots; clasps the tree it clings to and finally kills it, becoming a large tree (metrosideros robusta). A hard but not durable wood."
1854. W. Golder, `Pigeons' Parliament,' canto 1, p. 14:
"Unlike the neighbouring rata cast,And tossing high its heels in air."
1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 135:
"The Rata (Metrosideros robusta), the trunk of which, frequently measuring forty feet in circumference, is always covered with all sorts of parasitical plants, and the crown of which bears bunches of scarlet blossoms."
1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 264:
"Nay, not the Rata! howsoe'er it bloomed,Paling the crimson sunset; for you know,Its twining arms and shoots together growAround the trunk it clasps, conjoining slowTill they become consolidate, and showAn ever-thickening sheath that kills at lastThe helpless tree round which it clings so fast."
1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 310:
"The Rata-Tree (Metrosideros robusta). This magnificent tree. . . . height 80 to 100 feet . . . a clear stem to 30 and even 40 feet . . . very beautiful crimson polyandrous flowers . . . wood red, hard, heavy, close-grained, strong, and not difficult to work."
1879. H. n. Moseley, `Notes of a Naturalist on Challenger,' p. 278:
One of the most remarkable trees . . . is the Rata. . . . This, though a Myrtaceous plant, has all the habits of the Indian figs, reproducing them in the closest manner. It starts from a seed dropped in the fork of a tree, and grows downward to reach the ground; then taking root there, and gaining strength, chokes the supporting tree and entirely destroys it, forming a large trunk by fusion of its many stems. Nevertheless, it occasionally grows directly from the soil, and then forms a trunk more regular in form."
1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 39:
"That bark shall speed where crimson ratas gleam."
1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii. p. 210:
"The foliage of many of the large trees is quite destroyed by the crimson flowering rata, the king of parasites, which having raised itself into the upper air by the aid of some unhappy pine, insinuates its fatal coils about its patron, until it has absorbed trunk and branch into itself, and so gathered sufficient strength to stand unaided like the chief of forest trees, flaunting in crimson splendour."
1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 263:
"It is invariably erect, never climbing, although bushmen and settlers frequently state that it climbs the loftiest trees, and sooner or later squeezes them to death in its iron clasp. In proof of this they assert that, when felling huge ratas, they often find a dead tree in the centre of the rata: this is a common occurrence, but it by no means follows that this species is a climber. This error is simply due to imperfect observation, which has led careless observers to confuse Metrosideros florida [the Akal which is a true climber, with M. robusta."
1892. `Otago Witness,' Nov. 10 [`Native Trees']:
"Rata, or Ironwood. It would be supposed that almost every colonist who has seen the rata in bloom would desire to possess a plant."
1893. `The Argus,' Feb. 4 [Leading Article]:
"The critic becomes to the original author what the New Zealand rata is to the kauri. That insidious vine winds itself round the supporting trunk and thrives on its strength and at its expense, till finally it buries it wholly from sight and flaunts itself aloft, a showy and apparently independent tree."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 92:
"Rat-tail Grass. An upright, slender growing grass; found throughout the colony, rather coarse, but yielding a fair amount of feed, which is readily eaten by cattle."
(2) Sporobolus indicus, R. Br., N.O. Gramineae.
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 109:
"Rat-tail Grass. A fine, open, pasture grass, found throughout the colonies. Its numerous penetrating roots enable it to resist severe drought. It yields a fair amount of fodder, much relished by stock, but is too coarse for sheep. The seeds form the principal food of many small birds. It has been suggested as a paper-making material."
[See Grass.]
1827. Augustus Earle, `Narrative of Nine Months' Residence in New Zealand,' `New Zealand Reader,' p. 67:
"Another party was collecting rushes, which grow plentifully in the neighbourhood, and are called raupo."
1833. Henry Williams's Diary, `Carleton's Life,' p. 151:
"The Europeans were near us in a raupo whare [rush-house]."
1835. W. Yate, `Account of New Zealand,' p. 205:
"To engage the natives to build raupo, that is, rush-houses."
1842. W. R. Wade, `A Journey in the North Island of New Zealand,' `New Zealand Reader,' p. 122:
"The raupo, the reed-mace of New Zealand, always grows in swampy ground. The leaves or blades when full grown are cut and laid out to dry, forming the common building material with which most native houses are constructed."
1843. `An Ordinance for imposing a tax on Raupo Houses, Session II. No. xvii. of the former Legislative Council of New Zealand':
[From A. Domett's collection of Ordinances, 1850.]
"Section 2. . . . there shall be levied in respect of every building constructed wholly or in part of raupo, nikau, toitoi, wiwi, kakaho, straw or thatch of any description [ . . . L20]."
1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' c. i. p. 380:
"These [the walls], nine feet high and six inches thick, were composed of neatly packed bunches of raupo, or bulrushes, lined inside with the glazed reeds of the tohe-tohe, and outside with the wiwi or fine grass."
1860. R. Donaldson, `Bush Lays,' p. 5:
"Entangled in a foul morass,A raupo swamp, one name we know."
1864. F. E. Maning (Pakeha Maori), `The War in the North,' p. 16:
"Before a war or any other important matter, the natives used to have recourse to divination by means of little miniature darts made of rushes or reeds, or often of the leaf of the cooper's flag (raupo)."
1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 308:
"The favourite material of the Maoris for building purposes is Raupo (Typha), a kind of flag or bulrush, which grows in great abundance in swampy places."
1877. Anon., `Colonial Experiences, or Incidents of Thirty-Four Years in New Zealand,' p. 10:
"It was thatched with raupo or native bulrush, and had sides and interior partitions of the same material."
1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol.ii. p. 159:
"Neither must you be astonished on hearing the razor-grinder ply his vocation in the very depths of our solitudes; for here he is a flying instead of a walking animal."
1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 87:
"Seisura Inquieta, Restless Flycatcher; the Grinder of the Colonists of Swan River and New South Wales."
1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 332:
"The razor-grinder, fitly so called from making a grinding noise as it wavers in one position a foot or two from the ground."
1893. `The Age,' Nov. 25, p. 13, col. 2:
"Mr. Purees: A statement has been made that is very serious. It has been said that a great deal has been `readied up' for the jury by the present commissioners. That is a charge which, if true, amounts to embracery.
"His Honor: I do not know what `readying up' means.
"Mr. Purves: It is a colonial expression, meaning that something is prepared with an object. If you `ready up' a racehorse, you are preparing to lose, or if you `ready up' a pack of cards, you prepare it for dealing certain suits."
1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 345:
"Lieut. Flinders taking up his gun to fire at two red-bills . . . the natives, alarmed, ran to the woods."
1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of the Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 259:
"`This bird,' says Mr. Caley, `which the settlers call Red-bill, is gregarious, and appears at times in very large flocks. I have killed above forty at a shot.'"
1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii. pl. 82:
"Estrelda temporalis. Red-eyebrowed Finch. Red-Bill of the Colonists."
`
1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 434:
"M'Leay river, New South Wales, Lat. 30 degrees 40'. This forest was found to contain large quantities of red cedar (Cedrela toona) and white cedar (Melia azederach), which, though very different from what is known as cedar at home, is a valuable wood, and in much request by the colonists."
(2) A medicinal drug. An exudation from the bark of Eucalyptus rostrata, Schlecht, and other trees; see quotation, 1793. Sir Ranald Martin introduced it into European medical practice.
177 J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 178:
"At the heart they [the trees] are full of veins, through which an amazing quantity of an astringent red gum issues. This gum I have found very serviceable in an obstinate dysentery."
Ibid. p. 233:
"A very powerfully astringent gum-resin, of a red colour, much resembling that known in the shops as Kino, and, for all medical purposes, fully as efficacious."
1793. J. E. Smith, `Specimen of Botany of New Holland,' p. 10:
"This, Mr. White informs us, is one of the trees (for there are several, it seems, besides the Eucalyptus resinifera, mentioned in his Voyage, p. 231) which produce the red gum."
[The tree is Ceratopetalum gummiferum, Smith, called by him Three-leaved Red-gum Tree. It is now called Officer Plant or Christmas-bush (q.v.).]
1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 42:
"The usual red gum was observed oozing out from the bark, and this attracted their notice, as it did that of every explorer who had landed upon the continent. This gum is a species of kino, and possesses powerful astringent, and probably staining, qualities."
1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 48:
"Sebastes percoides, a fish of a closely allied genus of the same family [as Scorpaena cruenta, the red rock-cod]. It is caught at times in Port Jackson, but has no local name. In Victoria it is called the Red Gurnet-perch."
1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vi. pl. 21:
"Erythrogonys Cinctus, Gould; Banded Red-knee."
1896. Baldwin Spencer, `Home Expedition in Central Australia,' Narrative, pt. i. p. 16:
"We crossed a narrow belt of country characterized by the growth along the creek sides of red mulga. This is an Acacia (A. cyperophylla) reaching perhaps a height of twenty feet, the bark of which, alone amongst Acacias, is deciduous and peels off, forming little deep-red coloured flakes."
1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 38:
"The name of this family is a source of much confusion. It is derived from the Latin word mullus, which in the form of `Mullet' we apply to the well-known fishes of quite a different family, the Mugilidae. Another fish to which the term `Red-Mullet' is applied is of the family Cottidae or Gurnards."
1858. T. McCombie, `History of New South Wales,' c. xiv. p. 213:
"A party . . . discovered gold in the quartz-reefs of thePyrenees [Victoria]."
1860. W. Kelly, `Life in Victoria,' vol. ii. p. 148:
"If experience completely establishes the fact, at least, under existing systems, that the best-paying reefs are those that are largely intersected with fissures—more inclined to come out in pebbles than in blocks—or, if I might coin a designation, `rubble reefs,' as contradistinguished from `boulder reefs,' showing at the same time a certain degree of ignigenous discoloration . . . still, where there are evidences of excessive volcanic effect . . . the reef may be set down as poor . . ."
1866. A. R. Selwyn, `Exhibition Essays,' Notes on the Physical Geography, Geology, and Mineralogy of Victoria:
"Quartz occurs throughout the lower palaeozoic rocks in veins, `dykes' or `reefs,' from the thickness of a thread to 130 feet."
1869. R. Brough Smyth, `Goldfields Glossary,' p. 619:
"Reef. The term is applied to the tip-turned edges of the palaeozoic rocks. The reef is composed of slate, sandstone, or mudstone. The bed-rock anywhere is usually called the reef. A quartz-vein; a lode."
1874. Reginald A. F. Murray, `Progress Report, Geological Survey, Victoria,' vol. i. p. 65 [Report on the Mineral Resources of Ballarat]:
"This formation is the `true bottom,' `bed rock' or `reef,' of the miners."
1894. `The Argus,' March 28, p. 5, col. 5:
"In looking for reefs the experienced miner commences on the top of the range and the spurs, for the reason that storm-waters have carried the soil into the gullies and left the bed-rock exposed."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. iii. p. 30:
"The University graduate . . . was to be seen patiently sluicing, or reefing, as the case might be."
[See also Quartz-reefing.]
1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 161:
"Mr. Gilbert observed the female of the Regent-bird."
(2) Mock Regent-bird, now Meliphaga phrygia, Lath.
1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 48:
"Zanthomyza Phrygia, Swains., Warty-faced Honey-eater [q.v.]; Mock Regent-Bird, Colonists of New South Wales."
1892. R. L. Stevenson, `The Wrecker,' p. 336:
"Remittance men, as we call them here, are not so rare in my experience; and in such cases I act upon a system."
1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand, the Britain of the South,' vol. i. p. 143:
"Rewarewa (honeysuckle), a handsome flowering tree common on the outskirts of the forests. Wood light and free-working: the grain handsomely flowered like the Baltic oak."
1878. R. C. Barstow, `On the Maori Canoe,' `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xi. art. iv. p. 73:
"Dry rewarewa wood was used for the charring."
1880. W. Colenso, `Traditions of the Maoris,' `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xiii. p. 53:
"The boy went into the forest, and brought back with him a seed-pod of the rewarewa tree (Knightia excelsa). . . . He made his way to his canoe, which was made like the pod of the rewarewa tree."
1983. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 129:
"Rewarewa, a lofty, slender tree, 100 feet high. Wood handsome, mottled red and brown, used for furniture and shingles, and for fencing, as it splits easily. It is a most valuable veneering wood."
1891. W. Tilley, `Wild West of Tasmania,' p. 11:
"Prospected with the result that he discovered the first payable gold on the West Coast, for which he obtained a reward claim."
1850. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' May 8, vol. i. p. 278:
"A section . . . of the stem of the graceful palm-like Richea (Richea pandanifolia), found in the dense forests between Lake St. Clair and Macquarie Harbour, where it attains the height of 40 to 50 feet in sheltered positions,—the venation, markings, and rich yellow colouring of which were much admired."
1878. Rev. W. W. Spicer, `Handbook of the Plants of Tasmania,' p. 125:
Richea pandanifolia, H. Giant Grass Tree. Peculiar toTasmania. Dense forests in the interior and SW."
As to the name, see also quotation, 1886. See Manucode.
1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 194:
"We saw . . . a rifle-bird."
1886. `Encyclopaedia Britannica,' vol. xx. p. 553:
"Rifleman-Bird, or Rifle-Bird, names given . . . probably because in coloration it resembled the well-known uniform of the rifle-regiments of the British army, while in its long and projecting hypochondriac plumes and short tail a further likeness might be traced to the hanging pelisse and the jacket formerly worn by the members of those corps."— [Footnote]: "Curiously enough its English name seems to be first mentioned in ornithological literature by Frenchmen—Lesson and Garnot—in 1828, who say (Voy. `Coquille,' Zoologie, p. 669) that it was applied `pour rappeler que ce fut un soldat de la garnison [of New South Wales] qui le tua le premier,' which seems to be an insufficient reason, though the statement as to the bird's first murderer may be true."
1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 171:
"It was an Australian bird of paradise, the celebratedRifle-bird (Ptilorhis victoriae), which, according toGould, has the most brilliant plumage of all Australian birds."
1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 113:
"Acanthidositta chloris, Buller. The rifleman is the smallest of our New Zealand birds. It is very generally distributed."
[Footnote]: "This has hitherto been written Acanthisitta; but Professor Newton has drawn my attention to the fact of its being erroneous. I have therefore adopted the more classic form of Acanthidositta, the etymology of which is 'akanthid,—crude form of 'akanthis = Carduelis, and sitta = sitta."
1888. W. Smith, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xxi. art. xxi. p. 214:
"Acanthisitta chloris (Rifleman). The feeble note of this diminutive bird is oftener heard in the bush than the bird is seen."
1893. `The Argus,' Feb. 3:
"The main body of the men was located in the right-of-way, which is overlooked by the side windows of the bureau."
1835. W. Yate, `Account of New Zealand,' p. 40:
"Rimu. This elegant tree comes to its greatest perfection in shaded woods, and in moist, rich soil."
1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 117:
"He layCouched in a rimu-tree one day."
1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 306:
"The Rimu Tree. Height, eighty to 100 feet, fully forty to fifty feet clear of branches . . . moderately hard . . . planes up smoothly, takes a good polish, would be useful to the cabinetmaker."
1879. Clement Bunbury, `Fraser's Magazine,' June, p. 761:
"Some of the trees, especially the rimu, a species of yew, here called a pine, were of immense size and age."
1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. i. c. x. p. 315:
"What they call ringing the trees; that is to say, they cut off a large circular band of bark, which, destroying the trees, renders them easier to be felled."
1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 56:
The gum-trees, ringed and ragged, from the mazy margins rise."
1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. xx. p. 312:
"Trees to be `rung.' The ringing of trees consists of cutting the bark through all round, so that the tree cease to suck up the strength of the earth for its nutrition, and shall die."
1883. E. M. Curr, `Recollections of Squatting in Victoria' (1841-1851), p. 81:
"Altogether, fences and tree-ringing have not improved the scene."
1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 58:
"The trees are `rung,' that there may be more pasture for the sheep and cattle."
(2) To make cattle move in a circle. [Though specifically used of cattle in Australia, the word has a similar use in England as in Tennyson's `Geraint and Enid'
. . . "My followers ring him round:He sits unarmed."—Line 336.]
1874. W. H. Ranken, `Dominion of Australia,' c. vi. p. 111:
"They are generally `ringed,' that is, their galop is directed into a circular course by the men surrounding them."
1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 126:
"I'll tell you what, you'll have to ring them. Pass the word round for all hands to follow one another in a circle, at a little distance apart."
(3) To move round in a circle.
1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' p. 20:
"The cattle were uneasy and `ringed' all night."
(4) To make the top score at a shearing-shed. See Ringer.
1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 136:
"The man that `rung' the Tubbo shed is not the ringer here."
1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 204:
"The selector in a timbered country, without troubling himself about cause and effect, is aware that if he destroys the tree the grass will grow, and therefore he `ring-barks' his timber."
1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 9:
"Our way led us through a large but not dense wood of leafless gumtrees. My companion told me that the forest was dead as a result of `ring-barking.' To get the grass to grow better, the settler removes a band of bark near the root of the tree. In a country where cattle-raising is carried on to so great an extent, this may be very practical, but it certainly does not beautify the landscape. The trees die at once after this treatment, and it is a sad and repulsive sight to see these withered giants, as if in despair, stretching their white barkless branches towards the sky."
1893. `Thumbnail Sketches of Australian Life,' p. 232:
"We were going through ring-barked country. You don't know what that is? Well, those giant gum-trees absorb all the moisture and keep the grass very poor, so the squatters kill them by ring-barking—that is, they have a ring described round the trunk of each tree by cutting off a couple of feet of bark. Presently the leaves fall off; then the rest of the bark follows, and eventually the tree becomes nothing but a strange lofty monument of dry timber."
1870. T. H. Braim, `New Homes,' c. iii. p. 131:
"The Spanish dollar was much used. A circular piece was struck out of the centre about the size of a shilling . . . and the rest of the dollar, called from the circular piece taken out a `ring-dollar,' was valued at four shillings."
1890. `The Argus,' Sept. 20, p. 13, col. 6:
"A `ringer' being the man who by his superior skill and expertness `tops the score'—that is, shears the highest number of sheep per day."
1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Dec. 23, p. 6, col. 1:
"Whence came the term `ringer,' as applied to the quickest shearer, I don't know. It might possibly have some association with a man who can get quoits on to the peg, and again, it might not, as was remarked just now by my mate, who is camped with me."
1894. E. W. Hornung, `Boss of Taroomba,' p. 101:
"They call him the ringer of the shed. That means the fastest shearer—the man who runs rings round the rest, eh?"
1894. `Geelong Grammar School Quarterly,' April, p. 26:
"Another favourite [school] phrase is a `regular ringer.'Great excellence is implied by this expression."
1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 162:
"The Shearers sat in the firelight, hearty and hale and strong,After the hard day's shearing, passing the joke alongThe `ringer' that shore a hundred, as they never were shornbefore,And the novice who toiling bravely had tommyhawked half ascore."
1891. `The Argus,' Oct.10, p. 13, col. 3:
"Considine could run rings round the lot of them."
1897. `The Argus,' Jan. 15, p. 6, col. 5:
"As athletes the cocoons can run rings round the beans; they can jump out of a tumbler."
1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 93:
"Rinka-sporum, a mass of white bloom."
1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 44:
[A full description.]
1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 163:
"A little wren managed to squeeze itself through, and it flew off to Kurangai-tuku, and cried, `Kurangai-tuku, the man is riro, riro, riro!'—that is, gone, gone, gone. And to this day the bird is known as the riro-riro."
Ashy-fronted Fly-Robin—Heteromyias cinereifrons, Ramsay.
Buff-sided R.—Poecilodryas cerviniventris, Gould.
Dusky R.—Amaurodryas vittata, Quoy and Gaim.
Flame-breasted Robin—Petroica phoenicea, Gould.
Hooded R.—Melanodryas bicolor, Vig. and Hors.
Pied R.—M. picata, Gould.
Pink-breasted R.—Erythrodryas rhodinogaster, Drap.
Red-capped R.—Petroica goodenovii, Vig. and Hors.
Red-throated R.—P. ramsayi, Sharp.
Rose-breasted R.—Erythrodryas rosea, Gould.
Scarlet-breasted R.—Petroica leggii, Sharp.
Scrub R.—Drymodes brunneopygia, Gould.
White-browed R.Poecilodryas superciliosa, Gould.
White-faced Scrub-R.—Drymodes superciliaris, Gould.
The New Zealand species are—
Chatham Island Robin—Miro traversi, Buller.
North Island R.—M. australis, Sparrm.
South Island R.—M. albifrons, Gmel.
Gould's enumeration of the species is given below. [See quotations, 1848, 1869.]
See also Shrike-Robin, Scrub-Robin, and Satin-Robin.
1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of the Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 242:
"`This bird,' Mr. Caley says, `is called yellow-robin by the colonists. It is an inhabitant of bushes'"
1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii:
PlatePetroica superciliosa, Gould, White-eyebrowedRobin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Drymodes brunneopygia, Gould, Scrub Robin. . 10
Eopsaltria leucogaster, Gould, White-bellied Robin . . . . . . . 13
1864. R. L. A. Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains,' p. 263:
"Very soon comes a robin. . . . In the bush no matter where you pitch, the robin always comes about, and when any other of his tribe comes about, he bristles up his feathers, and fights for his crumbs. . . . He is not at all pretty, like the Australian or European robin, but a little sober black and grey bird, with long legs, and a heavy paunch and big head; like a Quaker, grave, but cheerful and spry withal." [This is the Robin of New Zealand.]
1866. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 93:
"The New Zealand robin was announced, and I could see only a fat little ball of a bird, with a yellowish-white breast."
1869. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia' [Supplement]:
Drymodes superciliaris, Gould, Eastern Scrub Robin.
Petroica cerviniventris, Gould, Buff-sided Robin.
Eopsaltria capito, Gould, Large-headed Robin.
E. leucura, Gould, White-tailed Robin.
1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 239:
"The large red-breasted robin, kinsman trueOf England's delicate high-bred bird of home."
1880. Mrs.Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 123:
"The Robin is certainly more brilliantly beautiful than his English namesake. . . . Black, red and white are the colours of his dress, worn with perfect taste. The black is shining jet, the red, fire, and the white, snow. There is a little white spot on his tiny black-velvet cap, a white bar across his pretty white wings, and his breast is, a living flame of rosy, vivid scarlet."
1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 235:
"Here, too, the `careful robin eyes the delver's toil,' and as he snatches the worm from the gardener's furrow, he turns to us a crimson-scarlet breast that gleams in the sun beside the golden buttercups like a living coal. The hues of his English cousin would pale beside him ineffectual."
1896. `The Melburnian,' Aug. 28, p. 54:
"The flame-breasted robin no longer lingers showing us his brilliant breast while he sings out the cold grey afternoons in his tiny treble. He has gone with departing winter."
1883. `Royal Commission on the Fisheries of Tasmania,' p. 40:
"A variety known to fishermen as the deep-water, or Cape-cod. . . . It would appear that the latter is simply the mature form of the `rock-cod,' which enters the upper waters of estuaries in vast numbers during the month of May. . . The rock-cod rarely exceeds 2 1/2 lbs. weight."
1891. R. Etheridge, jun., in `Records of the Australian Museum,' vol. i. No. viii. p. 171 (`Notes on Rock Shelters or Gibba-gunyahs at Deewhy Lagoon'):
". . . The Shelters are of the usual type seen throughout the Port Jackson district, recesses in the escarpment, overhung by thick, more or less tabular masses of rock, in some cases dry and habitable, in others wet and apparently never used by the Aborigines."
Brush-tailed Rock-Wallaby—Petrogale penicillata, Gray.
Little R.-W.—P. concinna, Gould.
Plain-coloured R.-W.—P. inornata, Gould.
Rock-W., or West-Australian R.-W.—P. lateralis, Gould.
Short-eared R.-W.—P. brachyotis, Gould.
Yellow-footed R.-W.—P. xanthopus, Gray.
See Wallaby.
1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. viii. p. 58:
"A light, active chap, spinning over the stones like a rock wallaby."
1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 119:
"They rode and rode, but Warrigal was gone like a rock wallaby."
1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 43:
"The Rock-Wallabies are confined to the mainland of Australia, on which they are generally distributed, but are unknown in Tasmania. Although closely allied to the true Wallabies, their habits are markedly distinct, the Rock-Wallabies frequenting rugged, rocky districts, instead of the open plains."