A second-hand report of a piece in the Queanbeyan Times, March 1885:
Before the breaking of the [Federation] drought at the end of 1902 the old habit of surviving on native bears had been resumed, with the result that the appearance of large numbers of quail in the [Gundaroo] district
at one stage moved W.R. Clemenger to comment that ‘we of "the centre" now turn up our noses at fricassee native bear, and luxuriate for the nonce upon quail on toast’.
Source: Lea-Scarlett, EJ 1972,
Gundaroo, Roebuck Society Publication no. 10, Roebuck Society, Canberra, p. 123.
In this context, ‘for the nonce’ means ‘at the present time’.
Unfortunately, that issue of the Queanbeyan Times does not appear to be accessible through Trove to confirm the accuracy of the quotation, and its context.
Regarding Stubble Quail, HANZAB records that ‘Occasional irruptive movements into areas after heavy rainfall’. For the Brown Quail: ‘After favourable seasons, may irrupt into regions beyond normal range’.
David
--
David McDonald
1004 Norton Road, Wamboin NSW 2620, Australia
Mobile: 0416 231 890 | Tel: (02) 6238 3706
E-mail:
m("dnmcdonald.id.au","david");">
