mallee hen
- noun
- Australian
:
gallina mallee
- The mallee hen is renowned for building large nesting mounds of leaf litter and sand.
Examples
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We spotted a mallee hen in the bush while hiking through the reserve.
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The mallee hen nests on the ground.
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During the breeding season, the mallee hen diligently tends to her eggs.
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Look! There is a mallee hen over there!
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During the breeding season, the mallee hen diligently tends to her eggs.
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The mallee hen is renowned for building large nesting mounds of leaf litter and sand.
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We spotted a mallee hen in the bush while hiking through the reserve.
Synonyms
A large Australian ground bird that builds big sand mounds to keep its eggs warm
A large Australian bird called the malleefowl that keeps its eggs warm in big sandy mounds
A group of large Australian birds that includes the malleefowl and uses mounds to keep eggs warm
Surface Forms
Morphology
mallee + hen
If a learner knows 'mallee' as a regional/type label (the Australian mallee scrub or associated plants) plus 'hen' (adult female bird), the compound straightforwardly denotes a hen associated with that mallee region or type — i.e., a mallee fowl. Although 'mallee' is region-specific and somewhat rare, the meaning is compositionally predictable from its parts, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Mallee hen gets its name from the bird's home and its type: mallee is the dry Australian bush where it lives, and hen was used because it is a female, ground bird that looks a little like a chicken. So the name means 'an adult female bird from the mallee', and that helps you remember it is a large ground bird known for building big nesting mounds.
