and especially on the River Darling, for a dust
storm, caused by cyclonic winds.

<hw>Dart</hw>, <i>n</i>. (1) Plan, scheme, idea [slang].
It is an extension of the meaning--"sudden motion."

1887. J. Farrell, `How: he died,' p. 20:

"Whose `dart' for the Looard
Was to appear the justest steward
That ever hiked a plate round."

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 9, p. 4, col. 2:

"When I told them of my `dart,' some were contemptuous,
others incredulous."

1892. Rolf Boldrewood, `Nevermore,' p. 22:

"Your only dart is to buy a staunch horse with a tip-cart."

(2) Particular fancy or personal taste.

1895. Modern:

"`Fresh strawberries eh!--that's my dart,' says the bushman
when he sees the fruit lunch in Collins-street."

<hw>Darter</hw>, <i>n</i>. common English name for birds of the
genus <i>Plotus</i>. So called from the way it "darts" upon
its prey. The Australian species is <i>Plotus novae-
hollandiae</i>, Gould.

<hw>Dasyure</hw>, and <hw>Dasyurus</hw>, <i>n</i>. the
scientific name of the genus of Australian animals called
<i>Native Cats</i>. See under <i>Cat</i>. The first form is
the Anglicized spelling and is scientifically used in
preference to the misleading vernacular name. From the Greek
<i>dasus</i>, thick with hair, hairy, shaggy, and <i>'oura</i>,
tail. They range over Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and the
adjacent islands. Unlike the <i>Thylacine</i> and <i>Tasmanian
Devil</i> (q.v.), which are purely terrestrial, the
<i>Dasyurus</i> are arboreal in their habits, while they are
both carnivorous and insectivorous.

The Thylacine, Tasmanian Devil, Pouched Mice, and Banded
Ant-eater have sometimes been incorrectly classed as
<i>Dasyures</i>, but the name is now strictly allotted to the
genus <i>Dasyurus</i>, or <i>Native Cat</i>.

<hw>Date, Native</hw>, <i>n</i>. a Queensland fruit,
<i>Capparis canescens</i>, Banks, <i>N.O. Capparideae</i>.
The fruit is shaped like a pear, and about half an inch
in its largest diameter. It is eaten raw by the aborigines.

<hw>Deadbeat</hw>, <i>n</i>. In Australia, it means a man "down
on his luck," "stone-broke," beaten by fortune. In America,
the word means an impostor, a sponge. Between the two uses the
connection is clear, but the Australian usage is logically the
earlier.

<hw>Dead-bird</hw>, <i>n</i>. In Australia, a recent slang
term, meaning "a certainty." The metaphor is from
pigeon-shooting, where the bird being let loose in fro