"<i>Pardalotus quadragintus</i>, Gould, Forty-spotted pardalote. Forty-spot, Colonists of Van Diemen's Land."
1896. `The Australasian,' Aug. 28, p. 407, col. 5:
"`Lyre bird' is obvious; so, too, is `forty-spot'; only one wonders why the number 40 was pitched upon. Was it a guess? Or did the namer first shoot the bird and count?"
<hw>Fossick</hw>, <i>v. intrans</i>. to dig, but with special meanings. Derived, like <i>fosse</i>, a ditch, and <i>fossil</i>, through French from Lat. <i>fossus</i>, perfect part. of <i>fodere</i>, to dig. <i>Fossicking</i> as pres. part., or as verbal noun, is commoner than the other parts of the verb.
(1) To pick out gold.
1852. W. H. Hall, `Practical Experiences at the Diggings in Victoria,' p. 16:
"Or fossicking (picking out the nuggets from the interstices of the slate formation) with knives and trowels."
(2) To dig for gold on abandoned claims or in waste-heaps.
1865. F. H. Nixon, `Peter Perfume,' p. 59:
"They'll find it not quite so `welly good'
As their fossicking freak at the Buckland."