weaver-bird

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

n.


The English name Weaver-bird, in its present broad sense as appliedto a wide variety of birds, is modern. It alludes to theirdexterity in «weaving» their nests. It is applied in Australiato Callornis metallica, a kind of Starling.

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 96:

«The elegant, metallic-looking, `glossy starlings' (Callornismetallica) greedily swoop, with a horrible shriek, upon thefruit of the Australian cardamom tree. The ingenious nests ofthis bird were found in the scrubs near Herbert Vale – – a greatmany in the same tree. Although this bird is a starling, thecolonists call it `weaver-bird.'»

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