Austral English / A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia

by Edward Ellis Morris

<hw>Silver-Perch</hw>, <i>n</i>. a fresh-water fish, i.q. <i>Bidyan Ruffe</i> (q.v.).

<hw>Silver-tail</hw>, <i>n</i>. a bush term for a "swell": a man who goes to the manager's house, not to the men's hut. See <i>Hut</i>.

1890. A. J. Vogan, `The Black Police,' p. 116:

"A select circle of long-limbed members of those upper circles who belong to the genus termed in Australian parlance `silver-tailed,' in distinction to the `copper-tailed' democratic classes."

<hw>Silver-Trevally</hw>, <i>n</i>. See <i>Trevally</i>.

<hw>Sittella</hw>, <i>n</i>. an Australian genus of small creeping-birds, called also <i>Tree-Runners</i> (q.v.). <i>Sittella</i> is the Latin diminutive of <i>sitta</i>, which is from the Greek <i>sittae</i>, a woodpecker, whose habits the <i>Tree-runners</i> or <i>Sittellae</i> have. Gould's enumeration of the species is given in quotation.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv.:

"<i>Sittella chrysoptera</i>, Orange-winged Sittella; <i>S. leucocephala</i>, Gould, White-headed S.; <i>S. leucoptera</i>,Gould, White-winged S.; <i>S. pileata</i>, Gould, Black-capped S.; <i>S. tenuirostris</i>, Gould, Slender-billed S.

1869. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia' (Supplement):

"<i>Sittella Striata</i>, Gould, Striated Sittella."