In the margins of some Australian dictionaries: exploring the etymology of berigora

The source is provided for the three Linnæan names of birds which use a word of an Australian language. Two of these names were taken from the Sydney Language, boobook (1801) and boodang (1837). The third is more obscure: berigora, was assigned in 1827 in the name of the Brown falcon, to the type specimen collected by George Caley 180010 (whose notes also confusingly record similar words applied to Eucalypt species). The scientific name Falco berigora has allowed the continued survival of the word, including in a further two scientific names in 1988 and 1994. Now the word can be related through regular correspondences (Austin 1997:27) to biyaagaarr Brown falcon in the Yuwaalayaay and Yuwaalaraay languages (Ash et al., 2003:42), and thus linked with Beeargah a hawk character in Aboriginal legendary tales recorded in the 19th century, and to their potential ethnobiological observations. This connection provides support for the identification of Beeargah, and  also discuss Morris' (1898) analysis of berigora as composed of beri claw, and gora long'. This exercise illustrates how mainstream lexical sources can be supplemented from other disciplines, especially biology. The paper concludes with a brief overview of etymological work on Australian languages. Ash, A, Giacon, J, & Lissarrague, A 2003, Gamilaraay, Yuwaalaraay & Yuwaalayaay dictionary, IAD Press, Alice Springs. Austin, P 1997, Proto Central New South Wales phonology, in D Tryon & M Walsh (eds.), Boundary Rider: Essays in honour of Geoffrey OGrady, Pacific Linguistics, Canberra, vol. C-136, pp. 2149. Morris, EE 1898, Austral English: a dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages, Cambridge University Press, 2011 edn.