jack-bird

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

n.


a bird of the South Island of NewZealand, Creadion cinereus, Buller. See also Saddle-back and Creadion.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 23:

«It has become the habit to speak of this bird as the BrownSaddle-back; but this is a misnomer, inasmuch as the absence ofthe `saddle' is its distinguishing feature. I have accordinglyadopted the name of Jack-bird, by which it is known among thesettlers in the South Island. Why it should be so called Icannot say, unless this is an adaptation of the native name Tieke, the same word being the equivalent, in the Maorivernacular, of our Jack.»

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