1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 94:
"The bird <i>Centropus</i>, which is common in all Queensland, is found here in great numbers. Although it really is a cuckoo, the colonists call it the `swamp-pheasant,' because it has a tail like a pheasant. It is a very remarkable bird with stiff feathers, and flies with difficulty on account of its small wings. The swamp-pheasant has not the family weakness of the cuckoo, for it does not lay its eggs in the nests of other birds. It has a peculiar clucking voice which reminds one of the sound produced when water is poured from a bottle."
<hw>Swamp-Sparrow</hw>, <i>n</i>. a nickname in New Zealand for the <i>Fern-bird</i> (q.v.).
1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 60:
"These beds of rushes which form blind water-courses during the winter season, are dry in summer and are then a favourite resort for the Swamp-Sparrow as this bird is sometimes called."
Ibid. vol. ii. p. 255:
"The melancholy cry of the Fern-bird is so general and persistent that its nick-name of Swamp Sparrow is not undeserved."
<hw>Swan, Black</hw>, <i>n</i>. an Australian bird—<i>Cycnus niger</i>, Juvenal; <i>Cygnus atratus</i>, Gould; <i>Chenopsis atrata</i>, Wagl., sometimes miscalled <i>Chenopis</i>.
The river upon which Perth, Western Australia, is situated, is called the Swan River, and the colony was long known as the Swan River Settlement. It has expanded into Western Australia, the emblem of which colony is still the <i>Black Swan</i>. Since 1855 the <i>Black Swan</i> has been the device on the postage stamps of Western Australia.
82 A.D. (circiter). `Juvenal, Sat.' vi. 164: "Rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cycno."