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

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 123:

"And wild goburras laughed aloud
Their merry morning songs."

1870. F. S. Wilson, `Australian Songs,' p. 167:

"The rude rough rhymes of the wild goburra's song."

1886. E. M. Curr, `Australian Race,' p. 29:

"The notes of this bird are chiefly composed of the sounds <i>ka</i> and <i>koo</i>, and from them it takes its name in most of the languages . . . It is noticeable in some localities that <i>burra</i> is the common equivalent of <i>people</i> or <i>tribe</i>, and that the Pegulloburra . . . the Owanburra, and many other tribes, called the laughing- jackass—kakooburra, kakaburra, kakoburra, and so on; literally the <i>Kakoo people</i>." [Mr. Curr's etymology is not generally accepted.]

1890. `The Argus,' Oct. 25, p. 4, col 5:

"You might hear the last hoot of the kookaburra then."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 26, p. 5, col. 4:

"But what board will intervene to protect the disappearing marsupials, and native flora, the lyre-bird, the kookaburra, and other types which are rapidly disappearing despite the laws which have been framed in some instances for their protection?"