swan, black

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

n.


an Australian bird – – Cycnusniger, Juvenal; Cygnus atratus, Gould; Chenopsisatrata, Wagl., sometimes miscalled Chenopis.

The river upon which Perth, Western Australia, is situated, iscalled the Swan River, and the colony was long known as theSwan River Settlement. It has expanded into Western Australia,the emblem of which colony is still the Black Swan.Since 1855 the Black Swan has been the device on thepostage stamps of Western Australia.

82 A.D. (circiter). `Juvenal, Sat.' vi. 164: «Rara avisin terris nigroque simillima cycno.»

1700 (circiter). J. Locke, in `Johnson's Dictionary' (9thedition, 1805), s.v. Swan:

«The idea which an Englishman signifies by the name Swan,is a white colour, long neck, black beak, black legs, and wholefeet, and all these of a certain size, with a power of swimmingin the water, and making a certain kind of noise.»

1789. Governor Phillip, `Voyage,' p. 98:

«A black swan, which species, though proverbially rare in otherparts of the world, is here by no means uncommon . . . a verynoble bird, larger than the common swan, and equally beautifulin form . . . its wings were edged with white: the bill wastinged with red.»

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 137:

«We found nine birds, that, whilst swimming, most perfectlyresembled the rara avis of the ancients, a black swan.»

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 146:

«Large ponds covered with ducks and black swans.»

1847. J. D. Lang, `Phillipsland,' p. 115:

«These extensive sheets of glassy water . . . wereabsolutely alive with black swans and other water fowl . . .There must have been at least five hundred swans in view at onetime on one of the lakes. They were no `rara avis' there.»

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vii. pl. 6:

« Cygnus Atratus, Black Swan. The first notice on recordrespecting the existence of the Black Swan occurs in a letterwritten by Mr. Witsen to Dr. M. Lister about the year 1698, inwhich he says, `Here is returned a ship, which by our EastIndia Company was sent to the south land called HollandeaNova'; and adds that Black Swans, Parrots and many Sea-Cowswere found there.»

1856. J. S. Mill, `Logic' [4th edition], vol. i. bk. iii.c. iii. p. 344:

«Mankind were wrong, it seems, in concluding that all swanswere white. . . . As there were black swans, though civilizedpeople had existed for three thousand years on the earthwithout meeting with them.»

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), May 29, p. 45, col. 3:

«The presence of immense flocks of black swans is also regardedas an indication of approaching cold weather.»

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 22:

«The musical whoop of the black swan is sometimes heard as thewedge-shaped flock passes over.»

1895. G. Metcalfe, `Australian Zoology,' p. 64:

«Strzelecki states that the black swan was discovered in 1697by Vlaming. . . . In 1726 two were brought alive to Batavia,having been procured on the West Coast of Australia, near DirkHartog's Bay. Captain Cook observed it on several parts of thecoast.»

Related Words