<hw>Berley</hw>, <i>n</i>. term used by Australian fishermen for ground bait. It is probably of aboriginal origin.
1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish and Fisheries of New South Wales,' p. 75:
"With hook and line along the rocks of our sea-coast these fishes are caught, but the bait should be crabs. It is usual to wrench legs and shell off the back, and cast them out for Berley."
1896. `Badminton Magazine,' August, p. 201:
"I would signal to the sharks by opening and washing out a few of the largest fish at the boat's head, sometimes adding bait chopped small to serve for what Australian fishermen call Berley."
<hw>Betcherrygah</hw>, <i>n</i>. bird-name, <i>Melopsittacus undulatus</i>, Shaw. See Budgerigar.
<hw>Bettongia</hw>, <i>n</i>. the scientific name of the genus of Prehensile-tailed <i>Kangaroo-Rats</i>, whose aboriginal name is <i>Bettong</i>. They are the only ground-dwelling marsupials with prehensile tails, which they use for carrying bunches of grasses and sticks. See <i>Kangaroo-Rat</i>.
<hw>Biddy-biddy</hw>, or <hw>Biddybid</hw>, <i>n</i>. a corruption of Maori name <i>piripiri</i>. It is a kind of bur.
1880. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open, `New Zealand Country Journal,' vol. xii. p. 95:
"Piri-piri (<i>acaena sanguisorbe</i>) by settlers has been converted or corrupted into biddy-biddy; a verb has been formed on it, which is in very constant use for a good part of the year at least. To biddy, is to rid one of burrs, as `I'll just biddy my clothes before I come in.' Small birds are occasionally found in a wretched state of discomfort in which they appear a moving mass of burrs. Parroquets, pipets, and the little white-eyes, have been found victims suffering from these tenacious burrs of the piri-piri, just moving little brown balls unable to fly till picked up and released from their bonds."