Austral English Part 293

"Taking with him, therefore, on board the Port Phillip, presents of spears, wommeras, boomerangs, and stone tomahawks, he tried to get from the Williamstown waters."

1889. P. Beveridge, `Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina,'

p. 48:

"Spears all ready s.h.i.+pped, that is, having the hook of the Womerar (throwing-stick) placed in the small cavity made for that purpose in the end of the spear, with both raised in readiness for launching at the object."

1892. J. Fraser, `Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 73:

"The `womara' is an instrument of wood, from twenty-four to thirty inches long, and a little thicker than a spear. Unlike the spear, it is not thrown at the enemy in battle, but remains always in the black man's hand ... he ornaments it profusely, back and front... . The point is turned up, exactly like the point of a lady's crochet needle... .

The spears have a dimpled hole worked in their b.u.t.t end, which hole receives the point of the hook end of the `throw-stick.'"

Worm-Snake, n. See under Snake.

Wra.s.se, n. This English name for many fishes is given, in New Zealand, to Labrichthys bothryocosmus, Richards. Called also Poddly, Spotty, and Kelp-fish.

Wreck-fish, n. The Australian species is Polyprion ceruleum, family Percoidae. Guenther says that the European species has the habit of accompanying floating wood. Hence the name.

Wren, n. This common English bird-name is a.s.signed in Australia to birds of several genera, viz.--

Banded Wren-- Malurus splendens, Quoy and Gaim.

Black-backed W.-- M. melanotus, Gould.

Blue W.-- M. cyaneus, Lath.

Blue-breasted W.-- M. pulcherrimus, Gould.

Bower's W.-- M. cruentatus, Gould.

Chestnut-rumped Ground W.-- Hylacola pyrrhopygia, Vig. and Hors.

Emu-wren (q.v.)-- Stipiturus malachurus, Lath.

Goyder's Gra.s.s W.-- Amytis goyderi, Gould.

Gra.s.s W.-- A. textilis, Quoy and Gaim.; called by Gould the Textile Wren.

Large-tailed Gra.s.s W.-- A. macrura, Gould.

Longtailed W.-- Malurus gouldii, Sharpe.

Lovely W.-- M. amabilis, Gould.

Orange-backed W.-- M. melanocephalus, Vig. and Hors.

Purple-crowned W.-- M. coronatus, Gould.

Red-rumped Ground W.-- Hylacola cauta, Gould.

Red-winged W.-- Malurus elegans, Gould.

Silvery Blue W.-- M. cyanochlamys, Gould.

Striated Gra.s.s W.-- Amytis striatus, Gould; called also the Porcupine bird (q.v.).

Turquoise W.-- Malurus callainus, Gould.

Variegated W.-- M. lamberti, Vig. and Hors.

White-backed W.-- M. leuconotus, Gould.

White-winged W.-- M. leucopterus, Quoy and Gaim.

See also Scrub-Wren.

In New Zealand, the name is applied to the Bush-Wren, Xenicus longipes, Gmel., and the Rock (or Mountain) Wren, X. gilviventris, von Pelz.

Wry-billed Plover, n. a very rare bird of New Zealand, Anarhynchus frontalis, Quoy and Gaim.

1889. Prof. Parker, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,'

p. 116:

"The curious wry-billed plover ... the only bird known in which the bill is turned not up or down, but to one side--the right."

Wurley, n. aboriginal name for an aboriginal's hut. For other words expressing the same thing, see list under Humpy. In the dialect of the South-East of South Australia oorla means a house, or a camp, or a bird's nest.

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 110:

"Seeking, hoping help to find; Sleeping in deserted wurleys."

1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. ii. p. 233:

"Immediately went across to the blacks' wurleys, where I found King sitting in a but which the natives had made for him."

1879. G. Taplin, `Native Tribes of South Australia,' p. 12, and Note:

"In case of a man having two wives, the elder is always regarded as the mistress of the hut or wurley. The word wurley is from the language of the Adelaide tribe.

The Narrinyeri word is mante. I have used `wurley'

because it is more generally understood by the colonists."

1880. P. J. Holdsworth, `Station Hunting on the Warrego':

"`My hand

Must weather-fend the wurley'. This he did.

He bound the thick boughs close with bushman's skill, Till not a gap was left where raging showers Or gusts might riot. Over all he stretched Strong bands of cane-gra.s.s, plaited cunningly."

1886. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 42