"Moreton Bay fig. This noble-looking tree has a wood which is sometimes used, though it is very difficult to season."
[It is a handsome evergreen with dark leaves, larger than those of a horse-chestnut, much used as an ornament in street and gardens, especially in Sydney and Adelaide. The fig is not edible.]
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right, c. 44, p. 380:
"The . . . venerable church with its alleys of araucaria and Moreton Bay fig-trees."
<hw>File-fish</hw>, <i>n.</i> name given in New Zealand to the fish <i>Monacanthus rudis</i>, Richards, family <i>Sclerodermi</i>; in New South Wales to species of the genus <i>Balistes</i>. The first of the spines of the dorsal fin is roughened in front like a file. <i>Balistes maculatus</i> is the "Spotted File-fish" of Sydney. It is closely allied to the genus <i>Monacanthus</i>, called <i>Leather-jacket</i> (q.v.), which is much more numerously represented in Australasia.
<hw>Finch</hw>, <i>n.</i> a bird-name, first applied in
Australia, in 1848, by Gould, to the genus <i>Poephila</i>
(Grass-lover), and since extended to other genera of birds.
The species are—
Banded Finch—
<i>Stictoptera bichenovii</i>, Vig. and Hors.
Black-ringed F.—
<i>S. annulosa</i>, Gould.
Black-rumped F.—
<i>Poephila atropygialis</i>, Diggles.
Black-throated F.—
<i>P. cincta</i>, Gould.