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

"We heard of big nuggets, but only made tucker."

1890. `The Argus,' June 14, p. 14, col. 1:

"When a travelling man sees a hut ahead, he knows there's water inside, and tucker and tea."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 83:

"I took my meal in the hut, but we'd both the same kind of tucker."

<hw>Tui</hw>, <i>n</i>. Maori name for the New Zealand bird, <i>Prosthemadera novae-zelandae</i>, Gray; called the <i>Parson-bird</i> (q.v.), and earlier the <i>Poe</i> (q.v.). Another name is the <i>Koko</i>, and the young bird is distinguished as <i>Pi-tui</i>, or <i>Pikari</i>. It is also called the <i>Mocking bird</i>.

1835. W. Yate, `Some Account of New Zealand,' p. 52:

"Tui. This remarkable bird, from the versatility of its talents for imitation, has by some been called `the Mocking-Bird.'"

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 80:

"The little birds were chiefly the tui, or mocking-bird. It resembles a blackbird in size and plumage, with two graceful bunches of white feathers under the neck. It abounds in the woods, and is remarkably noisy and active . . . it imitates almost every feathered inhabitant of the forest, and, when domesticated, every noise it hears."