Austral English Part 36

Budgerigar, or Betcherrygah, n.

aboriginal name for the bird called by Gould the Warbling Grass-parrakeet; called also Shell-parrot and Zebra- Grass-parrakeet. In the Port Jackson dialect budgeri, or boodgeri, means good, excellent. In `Collins' Vocabulary' (1798), boodjer-re = good. In New South Wales gar is common as first syllable of the name for the white cockatoo, as garaweh. See Galah. In the north of New South Wales kaar= white cockatoo. The spelling is very various, but the first of the two above given is the more correct etymologically. In the United States it is spelt beauregarde, derived by `Standard' from French beau and regarde, a manifest instance of the law of Hobson -Jobson.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 297:

"The betshiregah (Melopsittacus Undulatus, Gould) were very numerous."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. Pl. 44:

"Melopsittacus Undulatus. Warbling Grass-Parrakeet.

Canary Parrot--colonists. Betcherrygah--natives of Liverpool Plains."

1857. Letter, Nov.17, in `Life of Fenton J. A. Hort' (1896), vol.

i. p. 388:

"There is also a small green creature like a miniature cockatoo, called a Budgeragar, which was brought from Australia. He is quaint and now and then noisy, but not on the whole a demonstrative being."

1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. i. p. 48:

"Young paroquets, the green leeks, and the lovely speckled budgregores."

1865. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 7:

"I saw several pairs of those pretty grass or zebra parroquets, which are called here by the very inharmonious name of `budgereghars.'"

2890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. xiv. p. 127:

"The tiny budgeriegar, sometimes called the shell parrot."

Bugle, n. name given to the Australian plant Ajuga australis, R. Br., N.O. Labiatae.

Bugler, n. a name given in Tasmania to the fish Centriscus scolopax, family Centriscidae; called in Europe the Trumpet-fish, Bellows-fish, the latter name being also used for it in Tasmania. The structure of the mouth and snout suggests a musical instrument, or, combined with the outline of the body, a pair of bellows. The fish occurs also in Europe.

Bugong, or Bogong, or Bougong, n. an Australian moth, Danais limniace, or Agrotis spina, eaten by the aborigines.

1834. Rev. W. B. Clarke, `Researches in the Southern Gold Fields of New South Wales' (second edition), p. 228:

"These moths have obtained their name from their occurrence on the `Bogongs' or granite mountains. They were described by my friend Dr. Bennett in his interesting work on `New South Wales,' 1832-4, as abundant on the Bogong Mountain, Tumut River. I found them equally abundant, and in full vigour, in December, coming in clouds from the granite peaks of the Muniong Range. The blacks throw them on the fire and eat them."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 355:

"The westward range is called the Bougongs. The blacks during summer are in the habit of coming thus far to collect and feed on the great grey moths (bougongs) which are found on the rocks."

1871. `The Athenaeum,' May 27, p. 660:

"The Gibbs Land and Murray districts have been divided into the following counties: ... Bogong (native name of grubs and moths)."

1878. R. Brough Smyth, `The Aborigines of Victoria,'

vol. i. p. 207

"The moths--the Bugong moths(Agrolis suffusa) are greedily devoured by the natives; and in former times, when they were in season, they assembled in great numbers to eat there, and they grew fat on this food." [Also a long footnote.]

1890. Richard Helms, `Records of the Australian Museum,'

vol. i. No. 1:

"My aim was to obtain some `Boogongs,' the native name for the moths which so abundantly occur on this range, and no doubt have given it its name."

1896. `Sydney Mail,' April 4, Answers to Correspondents:

"It cannot be stated positively, but it is thought that the name of the moth `bogong' is taken from that of the mountain.

The meaning of the word is not known, but probably it is an aboriginal word."

Bull-a-bull, or Bullybul, n. a child's corruption of the Maori word Poroporo (q.v.), a flowering shrub of New Zealand. It is allied to the Kangaroo-Apple (q.v.).

1845. `New Plymouth's National Song,' in Hursthouse's `New Zealand,' p. 217:

"And as for fruit, the place is full Of that delicious bull-a-bull."

Bullahoo, n. See Ballahoo.

Bull-ant, n. contracted and common form of the words Bull-dog Ant (q.v.).

Bull-dog Ant, n. (frequently shortened to Bull-dog or Bull-ant), an ant of large size with a fierce bite. The name is applied to various species of the genus Myrmecia, which is common throughout Australia and Tasmania.

1878. Mrs. H. Jones, `Long Years in Australia,' p. 93:

"Busy colonies of ants (which everywhere infest the country)... One kind is very warlike--the `bull-dog': sentinels stand on the watch, outside the nest, and in case of attack disappear for a moment and return with a whole army of the red-headed monsters, and should they nip you, will give you a remembrance of their sting never to be forgotten."

1888. Alleged `Prize Poem,' Jubilee Exhibition:

"The aborigine is now nearly extinct, But the bull-dog-ant and the kangaroo rat Are a little too thick--I think."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 142:

"Where the wily free-selector walks in armour-plated pants, And defies the stings of scorpion and the bites of bull-dog ants."

Bull-dog Shark, i.q. Bull-head (1) (q.v.).

Bull-head, n. The name is applied to many fishes of different families in various parts of the world, none of which are the same as the following two. (1) A shark of Tasmania and South Australia of small size and harmless, with teeth formed for crushing shells, Heterodontus phillipi , Lacep., family Cestraciontidae; also called the Bull-dog Shark, and in Sydney, where it is common, the Port-Jackson Shark : the aboriginal name was Tabbigan. (2) A freshwater fish of New Zealand, Eleotris gobioides, Cuv.and Val., family Gobiidae. See Bighead.

Bulln-Bulln, n. an aboriginal name for the Lyre-bird (q.v.). This native name is imitative. The most southerly county in Victoria is called Buln-Buln; it is the haunt of the Lyre-bird.

1857. D. Bunce, `Travels with Leichhardt in Australia,' p. 70:

"We afterwards learned that this was the work of the Bullen Bullen, or Lyre-bird, in its search for large worms, its favourite food."

1871. `The Athenaeum,' May 27, p. 660:

"The Gipps Land and Murray districts have been divided into the following counties: ... Buln Buln (name of Lyre-bird)."