mopoke

British  

/ ˈməʊˌpəʊk /

noun

1. Also called (NZ): ruru.  a small spotted owl, Ninox novaeseelandiae, of Australia and New Zealand. In Australia the tawny frogmouth, Podargus strigoides, is very often wrongly identified as the mopoke

2. slang a slow or lugubrious person

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Etymology

Origin of mopoke

C19: imitative of the bird's cry

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mopoke

Magpie to mopoke: diurnal and nocturnal Australian birds; hence, "dawn to dusk."

From Time Magazine Archive

The hooting of the mopoke owl Floats on the midnight air; The prowling dingoe’s dismal howl Is chorused wide and far.

From Early Days in North Queensland by Palmer, Edward

And all day through, from the time of the dew To the hour when the mopoke calls, Our mallets ring where the woodbirds sing Sweet hymns by the waterfalls.

From The Poems of Henry Kendall With Biographical Note by Bertram Stevens by Kendall, Henry

Only a mopoke called plaintively in the distance.

From The Pioneers by Prichard, Katharine Susannah

After a few seconds we heard the cry of the mopoke.

From Robbery under Arms; a story of life and adventure in the bush and in the Australian goldfields by Boldrewood, Rolf