"The warbling melops and the piping crow,
The merry forest fill with joyous song."
<hw>Pipit</hw>, <i>n</i>. another name for <i>Ground-Lark</i> (q.v.).
<hw>Pitau</hw>, <i>n</i>. Maori name for the <i>Tree-fern</i>. In Maori, the word means—(1) Soft, tender, young shoots. The verb <i>pihi</i> means "begin to grow"; <i>pi</i> means "young of birds," also "the flow of the tide." (2) Centre-fronds of a fern. (3) Name of a large fern.
1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' c. i. p. 57:
"The pitau, or tree-ferns, growing like a palm-tree, form a distinguishing ornament of the New Zealand forest."
<hw>Pitchi</hw>, <i>n</i>. name given to a wooden receptacle hollowed out of a solid block of some tree, such as the <i>Batswing Coral</i> (<i>Erythrina vespertio</i>), or <i>Mulga</i> (<i>Acacia aneura</i>), and carried by native women in various parts of Australia for the purpose of collecting food in, such as grass seed or bulbs, and sometimes for carrying infants. The shape and size varies much, and the more concave ones are used for carrying water in. The origin of the word is obscure; some think it aboriginal, others think it a corruption of the English word <i>pitcher</i>.
1896. E. C. Stirling, `Home Expedition in Central Australia, Anthropology, pt. iv. p. 99:
"I do not know the origin of the name `Pitchi,' which is in general use by the whites of the parts traversed by the expedition, for the wooden vessels used for carrying food and water and, occasionally, infants."
<hw>Pitta</hw>, <i>n</i>. The name is <i>Telugu</i> for the Indian Ant-thrush; a few species are confined to Australia; they are—
Blue-breasted Pitta—
<i>Pitta macklotii</i>, Mull. and Schleg.