<hw>Mirnyong</hw>, <i>n</i>. aboriginal name for a shell-mound, generally supposed to be Victorian, but, by some, Tasmanian.
1888. R. M. Johnston, `Geology of Tasmania,' p. 337:
"With the exception of their rude inconspicuous flints, and the accumulated remains of their feasts in the `mirnyongs,' or native shell-mounds, along our coasts, which only have significance to the careful observer, we have no other visible evidence of their former existence."
1893. R. Etheridge, jun., `Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,' p. 21 [Title of Paper]:
"The Mirrn-yong heaps at the North-West bank of the River
Murray."
<hw>Miro</hw>, <i>n</i>. (1) Maori name for a <i>Robin</i> (q.v.), and adopted as the scientific name of a genus of New Zealand Robins. The word is shortened form of <i>Miro-miro</i>.
1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 403:
"Miro-miro (<i>Miro albifrons</i>). A little black-and-white bird with a large head; it is very tame, and has a short melancholy song. The miro toi-toi (<i>muscicapa toi-toi</i>) is a bird not larger than the tom-tit. Its plumage is black and white, having a white breast and some of the near feathers of each wing tinged with white."
1879. W. Colenso, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xii. art. vii. p. 119:
"Proverb 28: <i>Ma to kanohi miro-miro</i>, [signifying] `To be found by the sharp-eyed little bird.' Lit. `For the miro-miro's eye.' Used as a stimulus to a person searching for anything lost. The miro-miro is the little petroica toi-toi, which runs up and down trees peering for minute insects in the bark."