Austral English Part 264

Thornback, n. special name for one of the Stingrays, Raia lemprieri, Richards., or Raja rostata, Castln., family Raijdae.

1875. `Melbourne Spectator,' Aug. 28, p. 201, col. 3:

"A thornback skate ... weighing 109 lbs., has been caught ... at North Arm, South Australia."

Thousand-Jacket, n. a North Island name for Ribbon-wood (q.v.), a New Zealand tree. Layer after layer of the inner bark can be stripped off.

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii. p. 210:

"Koninny [sic], raupo, toi-toi, supplejack, thousand-jacket, and the like, are names of things known well enough to the inhabitants of Napier and Taranaki, but to the average stay-at-home Englishman they are nouns which only vexatiously illustrate the difference between names and things."

1889. T. Kirk, `Flora of New Zealand,' p. 87:

"Hoheria populnea. The Houhere. Order--Malvaceae... In the north of Auckland the typical form is known as `houhere'; but Mr. Colenso informs me the varieties are termed `houi' and `whau-whi' in the south ... By the settlers all the forms are termed `ribbon-wood,' or less frequently `lace-bark'-- names which are applied to other plants: they are also termed `thousand-jacket.'"

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

"`Thousand-jacket' is a picturesque name for a many-named New Zealand tree, the bark of which peels, and peels, and peels again, though in the number chosen there is certainly a note of exaggeration."

Throwing-stick, n. native Australian weapon, by means of which the spear is thrown. See Woomera.

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

p. 12:

"The principals who perform it come from, Cammer-ray, armed with shields, clubs, and throwing-sticks."

Ibid. c. i. p. 26:

"The throwing-stick is used in discharging the spear. The instrument is from two to three feet in length, with a shell on one end and a hook on the other."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. i.

p. 72:

"Natives ... seemingly ignorant of the use of the throwing-stick."

1879. J. D. Woods, `Native Tribes of South Australia,'

Introd. p. xviii:

"The spear is propelled by a wommerah or throwing-stick, having at one end a kangaroo's tooth, fixed so as to fit into a notch at the end of the spear. This instrument gives an amount of leverage far beyond what would be excited by unaided muscular strength."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 251:

"It is supposed that if the hair of a person is tied on the end of the throwing-stick... and roasted before the fire with some kangaroo fat, the person to whom it belonged will pine away and die."

1885. H. H. Hayter, `Carboona,' p. 24:

"Warrk Warrk, having a dart on his throwing-stick ready adjusted, hurled it."

Thrush, n. This common English bird-name is applied in Australia and New Zealand to four different genera of birds, viz.--

(1) Collyriocincla, the Shrike-Thrushes (q.v.); the name Collyriocincla is a compound of two Greek bird-names, kolluriown /corr. from kolluriowu in Morris/, `a bird, probably of the thrush kind, Arist. H. A. 9, 23, 2'

(`L. & S.' /1869 p.864/), and kigalos, `a kind of wag-tail or water-ousel' (`L. & S.'). The next two genera are derived in a similar way from gaer, earth, and 'opos, mountain.

(2) Geocincla, the Ground-Thrushes (q.v.).

(3) Oreocincla, the Mountain-Thrush (q.v.).

(4) Pachycephala (q.v.); called Thrushes, but more often Thickheads (q.v.).

(5) Turnagra (the New Zealand Thrushes), viz.--

T. hectori, Buller, North Island Thrush.

T. crassirostris, Gmel., South Island Thrush.

The name Thrush was also applied loosely, by the early writers and travellers, to birds of many other genera which have since been more accurately differentiated. The common English thrush has been acclimatised in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.

Thunder-bird, n. an early name for one of the Thickheads (q.v.), or Pachycephalae (q.v.). See also quotation, 1896.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 239:

"`This species,' Mr. Caley says, `is called Thunder-bird by the colonists... . The natives tell me, that when it begins to thunder this bird is very noisy.'"

1848. J. Gould,' Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 64:

"Pachycephala Gutturalis, Thunder Bird, Colonists of New South Wales."

1896. A. J. North, `List of the Insectivorous Birds of New South Wales,' part i. p. 3:

"Pachycephala gutturalis, Latham. `Yellow-breasted Thick-head.' ... From its habit of starting to sing immediately after a clap of thunder, the report of a gun, or any other loud and sudden noise, it is known to many residents of New South Wales as the Thunder-bird.'

"Pachycephala rufiventris, Latham. `Rufous-breasted Thickhead.' ... Also known as the `Thunder-bird.'"

Thunder-dirt, n. In New Zealand, a gelatinous covering of a fungus (Ileodictyon cibarium) formerly eaten by the Maoris.

Thylacine, and Thylacinus, n. the scientific name of the genus of the animal called variously the Tasmanian Tiger (q.v.), Hyaena, Tasmanian Wolf, Zebra Wolf, and Marsupial Wolf. The first spelling is the Anglicised form of the word. (Grk.

thulakos, a pouch, and kuown, a dog.)

1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 153:

"The Thylacine appears to be generally found among caverns and rocks and the deep and almost impenetrable glens in the neighbourhood of the highest mountains of Tasmania."

Ti, n. the name of various species of trees of the genus Cordyline, N.O. Liliaceae. It exists in the Pacific Islands as C. Ti, and in New Zealand the species are C. australis and C. indivisa. It is called in New Zealand the Cabbage-tree (q.v.), and the heart used to be eaten by the settlers. The word is Polynesian. In Hawaiian, the form is Ki; in Maori, Ti. Compare Kanaka (q.v.) and Tangata.

By confusion, Tea, in Tea-tree (q.v.), is frequently spelt Ti, and Tea-tree is sometimes spelt Ti-tri (q.v.).

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

p. 58:

"In these natural shrubberies, too, and especially in wet situations, a kind of cabbage-tree, called ti by the natives, flourishes to great abundance."