THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST The Magazine of the FIELD. NATURALISTS CLUB OF VICTORIA in which is incorporated THE MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY OF VICTORIA VOLUME 79 MAY 1962 to APRIL 1963 Editor: NORMAN WAKEFIELD, B.Sc. Melbourne BROWN, PRIOR, ANDERSON PTY. LTD. 430 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, C.1 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY JSACARANDA POCKET GUIDES—Illustrated, 13/6 per Volume, plus postage 94, Australian Moths (|, F. B. Cemmon) Insecfs of Australia (Edoecr Riek) Marsupials of Australia (Basil Morlow) Freshwater Fishes of Austratio (Gilbert Whitley) Shells of fhe Australian Sea-Shore {D. F. McMichael) Sharks ond Other Predatory Fish of Australia (Peter Goadby) Trees of Australia (H. Ookman) Bush Birds (Allen Keast} Marine Fishes, 2 vols. (Gilbert Whitley) £1/7/- THE BUSHMAN’S HANDBOOK [H. A. Lindsay), illust. 13/6 (post 9d.). AUSTRALIAN SEASHORE LIFE (John Child), illust. 7/6 (9d.) AUSTRALIAN INSECTS (John Child)/ illust. 7/6 (9d.) 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Net—Vol, 80 The Victorian Naturalist Vol. 79 (1) May, 1962 Published by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria In which is incorporated the Microscopical Society of Victoria Registered at the General Post Office, Melbourne, for transmission by post as a periodical 2/6 FORESTS COMMISSION VICTORIA ; f f f/ preserving the DEAU ty 0 our j) )) } orests “Or you "i enjoyment. Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Vol. 79, No. 1] May 10, The Victorian Naturalist Editor: NORMAN WAKEFIELD, B.Sc. CONTENTS Articles: A Koala Note, by Ellen Lyndon .. The Freshwater Jelly-fish, Cr aspedacuste ‘sower by, in Victoria: A New Record, by John K. Ling and Ross Duggan .. a Features: Antarctic Wildlife: The Four Bays, by John Béchervaise ., Along the By-ways with the Editor: Disturbance of Nestlings, Fly Agaric in South Gippsland, Insect Swarms, Mantis Eats Frog Field Naturalists Club of Victoria: April General Meeting, Group Mectines, Nominations for Office- bearers for 1962-63 phe si rs af a ste Diary of Coming Events .. a a Miscellaneous: Conference on Victorian Mammal Research .. The Victorian State Film Centre Book Review: A Bushman’s Harvest West Australian Wombat—A Correction Latrobe Valley Field Naturalists Club .. Front Cover: 1962 12 16 10 This is a family of three half-grown Pigmy-possums, Cercaertus nanus, which were found by a wood-cutter in the Rushworth Forest in northern Victoria. They were taken to the camp where they lived for some months, running about quite free. The species is not uncommon in Tasmania, Victoria and eastern New South Wales, and it extends into the extreme south-east of South Australia, May’ 1962 3 Antarctic Wildlife—6 The Four Bays Heard [stand, Saturday, May 9, 1958 A biological tramp in a half- gale has much to recommend it on the morning after a “ding”, At breakfast today I felt. fortu- nate in being able to take the opportunity of helping with a seal census at South West Bay. Though the unglaciated areas are limited on Heard Island, they yield great variety of wild- life, This is not really surprising when one considers the isolation of the place—providing a roost and resting place for the am- phibious and avian life of mil- lions of square miles of sea, In considering the other islands of the South Indian Ocean—Marion and the Prince Edwards, the Crozets, Amsterdam and St. Paul, ranging through a preat circle are from two thousand miles west-nor’-west to a thou- sand north, and our relatively near neighbour of Kerguelen, about 300 miles away—we find little coherence except that of a modern radio network linking a community of metecrological in- teresits and some good friends who are unlikely ever to meet in person. We are scattered over an area three times the size of Anstralia. Heard Island is furthest of all from civilization, and more re- mote from any family hfe, from women and children, than any- 2 By JoHN BECHERVAISE where in the entire world, The Macdonald Group, sometimes just visible in the eye of the setting sual, are bleak rocky islands claimed by Australia, buf, upon which a landing has never been made. Kerguelen, Heard and the Macdonalds evince the Banzare Rise—or the Kerguelen-Gaussberg Ridge—a submarine upland extending to Antarctica. Few birds stay the year long on Heard, There are the en- gaging Sheathbills who have adapted themselves adyanta- geously to man’s occupancy, for they must have increased con- siderably with the prodigality of resultant, highly acceptable fond. They are notable for their lack of dietary discrimination; though I do not concede ths absoluteness of subjective human judgment upon offal and excre- ment. The black helmeted beaks of these birds are in marked colour contrast to their immacu- late white plumage. They are almost domesticated round the station; on a sunny morning, I have counted more than forty scratching and foraging within the space between the galley and the food-stores. The Gentoo Penguins, ap- parently, never entirely desert the beaches and rookery areas and, as I have said, the Cliff Prions may stay in small num- bers, All these birds must be Viet. Nat—Vol. 79 ANARE Photo: John Béchervaise Seal Census. Autumn 1953 A huddle of Elephant Seals, Heard Island—ineluding many young bulls. able to survive the most violent while, merely want to rest winter storms and obtain suf- motionless. Although they may ficient food on the beaches and submerge for many minutes, in coastal waters. The seals, however, haul up throughout the year, their num- bers varying greatly with the seasons, and to an extent with local weather. Like ships, they are generally happier to be well away from land when there is a real storm. There are generally a few gregarious old bull ele- phants and, especially during the winter, some unsocial leo- pards. One receives the im- pression that seals sometimes become tired of the ceaseless turbulence of the sea and, for a May 1962 they must all surface for air; they cannot, like most marine life, rest in the relatively calm depths of the ocean. The con- stant necessity for revisiting the heaving surface must absorb much physical energy. Judging by the records, in- cluding those of its rare appear- ances along the Australian coast,* the Leopard Seal is close to its normal northern limit *In October, 1935, the author photographed a Leopard Seal on the beach at Barwon Heads, Victoria. For some days previously there had been rumours of a visiting ‘“sea- serpent’, a by no means inapt description of the seal’s snake-like head. 5 when it reaches the Antarctic Convergence; its southern boun- dary is the pack-ice. Leopards, of course, do not winter below the ice (as does the Weddell Seal, with the consequent year- long necessity of keeping breath- ing holes open). However, they rest, and, it would seem, give birth to their pups, upon ice- floes in the summer months. Then, in increasing numbers, until they reach a maximum in August,} they move up _ into more northern waters. The few islands in these latitudes, es- pecially within the Convergence, are certainly widely separated resting places, but they are at least fixed and permanent. Heard Island is apparently unique in its appeal for Leopard Seals in late winter. Although, by all ac- counts, they must be considered a rare species, we have lately been able to observe them closely and frequently. Our first encounter this morn- ing was with my friends the “shags’’—about a dozen of them. Upstanding, pied birds, with black backs iridescent, green predominating, they possess fine white necks and breasts, dis- tinetive yellow caruncles above the base of the bill, and bright blue rings round their eyes. They chattered in a row down by the surf of Atlas Cove, while we stalked them for photographs. Like most island life, they were not easily frightened. They al- lowed an approach to within a few feet as I wriggled forward on the cold black sand. Then we moved on to the far +Ref.—The Status of the Leopard Seal at Heard and Macquarie Islands, 1948-1950: by A. M. Gwynn (A.N.A.R.E, Reports), January, 1953. 6 end of the cove and, round the western end, found a number of branded seals which Arthur asked me to photograph. There isn’t much difficulty in approach- ing closely and depicting them from any desired angle provided someone is present to divert their attention. A brand—‘‘40"—ap- parently denoted a cow whose appearance had been recorded in previous years; I do not know whether these seals are as faith- ful to locality as those of the Australian coast. All branding of Elephant Seals is done soon after the pups are weaned; we shall be busy on this task in six or seven months, I imagine. I also made some studies of the big bulls which postured so comically and ‘uttered such a deal of stinking breath” that truly “I durst not laugh, for fear of opening my lips and re- ceiving the bad air”. Elephant Seals are frequently unattrac- tive; they wallow in ordure, they often have bleary eyes, and they belch offensively. There is something, however, most patrician about the great bulbous noses of some _ bulls. Even their long-dead carcases, relics of dog-meat expeditions, often preserve a sort of pathetic dignity, quite reminiscent of the effigies of knights, prostrate and defaced by time. Here, the whole process, from lazy, exhausted, sinuous bulk, through slaughter and butchering, through the de- predations of skua and petrel, to the sand-blasted relics look- ing a century old, may take only a week or two. We strode across the wind- swept pavements of stones, planed flat by wind and frost, Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 to the magnetic huts above West Bay; then stood for a while watching three Light-mantled Sooty Albatross chicks high on the earthy cliffs of Mount An- drée. They have been there quite a long time, as Dr. Faulkner ringed them before we arrived. Now they are as fully fledged as adults, and will certainly fly away over the ocean very soon. The situation concerning juve- nile albatrosses may be rather complicated, according to Arthur Gwynn. Apparently no one ap- pears to know exactly the ap- pearance of some of the albatross chicks; although, of course, the adults are clearly distinguish- able. The Light-mantled Sooty adult has a blue line on the man- dible; the Sooty has a yellow line; but the chick of the Sooty, to make things difficult, displays a blue line. When the Light- mantled chick leaves the nest, it possesses adult-looking plu- mage, and the typical black bill, May 1962 Frost- shattered and wind- seulptured pavement, Heard Island The ridges are caused by contrary winds blowing ice and pumice-srit. Seasonal ice overlying the stones causes other movements and, ultimately, the wind sculpture of small stones becomes highly complex. ANARE Photo: John Béchervatse like that of the Black-browed Albatross. The question is whether a particular bird is the adult Mantled or a young Sooty. I became a little bewildered by the birds’ obvious lack of con- sideration for earnest biologists, but I think I have recorded the matter correctly. “Rand, who was on Marion Island for six months, claims to have seen both the Sooty and the Light-mantled Sooty nesting there ” Gwynn halts his short, eager strides to focus a far-off flight of terns or prions with his powerful glasses, then continues, “This, of course, con- flicts with Murphy. The critical point of the whole discussion. ..” I try to hear the words before they are snatched by the stiff breeze. There is always quality in Gwynn’s bird-lore, At South West Bay, we com- menced and carried to a success- ful conclusion, the counting and classifying by sex and age- > groups of exactly three hundred elephant seals. This included the recording of all brands, of which, in fact, we saw few. We zig- zagged our way along the beach, each taking different groups where possible, occasionally joining forces when great heaps of beasts required stirring in order that their tails might be well examined, while to the west rose a high surf interlaced with sweeping sea-birds, light as wind. As we approached the south- ern end of the beach, the termi- nal face of the Vahsel Glacier, of ethereal blue seracs, was com- pletely visible as a jagged wall fending the sea as far as Cape Gazert. We climbed over Erratic Point, named from a colossal rock that in some past age had been deposited there by a dif- ferent, and greater, glacier; then, crossing a characteristi- cally milky meltwater stream, we again descended to the beach. Here were our final elephants. Near Erratic Point, as in several places where the mosses and azorella combine to clothe little valleys, the colours— brown, green and yellow, in several rich tones—merge in soft contours to create an extra- ordinary impression of garden rather than wilderness, all the stranger for its background of blue ice. The disturbing loveli- ness of such places I share re- peatedly with imagined friends. Earlier in the day, we had glimpsed a large waterfall leap- ing over the northern buttresses of the Schmidt Glacier, so now we decided to return by a col near to it, passing Mount Dry- 8 galski and the glacier ice, and dropping down to the sand-plain stretching to the station. We completely forgot lunch. We crossed countless azorella hum- mocks and smoky streams and were soon approaching the waterfall. There were no diffi- culties of ascent. The fall, fully seventy feet high, overshot the cliff as a great turbid stream cleanly curving over an in-cut edge. From the colour and con- tours of the huge fallen blocks that filled the valley, it appeared that the waterfall was inter- mittent, for some of those well beneath the spray held patches of lichen. Later, when we scrambled up the sharp scree to the lateral moraine of the Schmidt, we discovered that the water was issuing from a chan- nel below the ice in sufficient quantities to overflow a low gap in the lateral rock. Apparently, for many of the thaw periods of the year, the channel that runs parallel with the glacier itself is sufficient to take the melt- water. Every now and then when the channel cannot cope with the flow, perhaps during some of the seasonally anomalous thaws, the water overleaps the cliff edge in this striking cascade. It is probable that a reservoir of thaw water is held back by ice under pressure which, peri- odically giving way, allows the water to escape. We also dis- cussed the possibility of thermal action occasionally causing an increased rate of thaw, but we had no evidence to support any such theory. We decided to have a look at Corinthian Beach to complete our circuit of the four bays, so Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 turned north-east round the Bau- dissen moraine and lateral streams instead of crossing the flooded sands. A chaos of ice boulders, the debris of the glacier fronts, covered the beach, and some had been driven well up the water-courses, A broken sea and low, scurrying clouds heralded an early break in the weather. There were some birds fluttering over the spume; we thought at first they were all Cape Pigeons but as we approached, Arthur identified several as Blue Pet- rels. The latter do not breed here, as far as is known, and, in fact, usually forage much further south. However, they are known to nest on Kerguelen. They re- sembled prions but possessed a characteristic white tail and were completely white under- wing. The Cape Pigeons’ checked plumage, black heads and white underwings give a dazzling ap- pearance to their flight. By the time we had reached the western extreme of the beach, snow was shooting in from the sea, and a biting wind May 1962 —— Ae Pigeons and a Giant Petrel swarming over a seal carcass, Heard Island. On the right is a bird in the walking- on-the- surface movement which gives the name “petrel’’— bird of St. Peter—to the family. ANARE Ihoto; John Béchervaise made camp and food alluring. Still Arthur leant against a small cliff to steady his binoculars and watched the Blue Petrels, until they were almost lost in spray and eddying snow. Finally we turned for home, leaving the bay to three angular leopards and the spin-drift birds. Most of the Elephant Seals had hauled them- selves well up from the uncom- fortable sea. Curiously, quite a large group had found shelter in the decayed foundations of an old sealers’ hut, built perhaps eighty or ninety years ago. We were scarcely in camp before a strong easterly blizzard broke, plastering the walls with wet snow and sleet. —From Log for Lorna, an illus- trated diary addressed to the author's wife. Note: The feature ‘Australian Wattles” has been temporarily dis- continued. It should be resumed shortly when suitable photographs become available. 9 With-the E ditor These columns are available each month for your nature notes and queries. Address your correspondence to the Editor, “Victorian Naturalist’, P.O, Box 21, Noble Park, Victoria. Disturbance of Nestlings Following the comment that it is almost impossible to induce nestlings to return to the nest after interference (Vict. Nat., Vol. 78, page 329, March, 1962), Mr. E, H. Coghill writes: I raised this point with Crosbie Morrison at a club meeting some years ago, He said that if the nestling has left the nest because of interference it is normally almost ready to leave in any case. However, if it is restored to the nest, and a hand placed over it, it will gradually settle down under the warmth of the hand and after a few minutes the hand can be withdrawn and the bird will perhaps stay a while longer. The comment made in the March Naturalist was based on experience with nestlings of small birds (the actual species of which are not remembered) which persistently struggled and fled from their nest, despite efforts to induce them to stay. 10 The impression was gained that up to a certain stage the nest is a place of safety, but that inter- ference triggers off a reaction which associates the nest with danger. Perhaps various species act differently. Fly Agaric in South Gippsland In these columns, in the Natu- ralist of July, 1961 (Vol. 78, page 78), some notes were pub- lished giving additional locali- ties where the Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria, had been re- corded. Here is a report on the subject from Mrs. O. G. Brew- ster, of Nerrena, via Leongatha: On Saturday, March 10, our family was travelling along the Midland Highway at Beech Hill, when we dis- covered hundreds of these colourful fungi beneath a group of pine trees which were growing just above the road. To our son, David, aged twelve, goes the credit of seeing and recog- nizing them as we drove past. Beech Hill (Army Survey Vict. Nat.—Vol. Map, 79 Foster 1018, reading 378-505) is an early settled area which like so much of the Gippsland hill country has been abanduned and allowed to revert to serub and the wild growth of intro- duced treas and shrubs which the settlers had in their gardens, The pines under which the fungi grew appeared to be self-sown from older trees higher on the hill. So it is a matter af conjecture how long those Fiy Agaries haye grown in Gippsland, Insect Swarms The Zollwwing observation comes from Mr, K, ©, Rogers, of “Rockbank’, mm the Black Mountain area of Wulgulmerang, in East. Gippsland: When riding up a grassy gully in freen open timber in the bush near Black Mountain, on February 12 this year, something quite unusnal caught my eye. On several shrubs of rather tall, slender Manuka Tea-tree (Leptosper- Mini ssopariwin) were black masses of what, on closer inspection, proved to be minute insects in swarms, Two of the shrubs, about ten feet tall, were bent over with the weight of the swarms suspended from the tips of the upper branches. On another, the central part of the stem carried a mass of the insects for about two feet six inches of its length and an inch in depth, in a eylindrical swarm around the wood. Still another shrub bore a similar cluster for about eighteen inches. On examination (but unfortunately without a magnifying glass), the swarms appeared ti consist af myriads of minute, sooty black flies, under an eighth-anch long, with silvery white wings of similar length. The wings glistened in the sunlight, From the suspended swarms, per- tions would keep dropping off, only to fiy back onta the living mass. When squashed, the insects had « very strong smell of honey. The local “Swamp Gum” (Hucatyptus can phorm) waz flawering in profusion in the vicinity, ‘As this colony formed, try far, the most immense cotigregation cf insects f have ever seen, it would be interest- May 1962 ing to know iz such an occurrences is often encountered, and alao what type of insect. thesé might be, Mr. A. N, Burns, Curator of Insects at the National Museum of Victoria, suggests that these insects were probably native bees, same of which. he says, do swarm in sotumn- Tn discussing the native social or honey bees (Apidae), Tillyard says, The commonest species is Trigonia earbonanié Sm... found almost everywhere; the worker is a thick-set little blark- ish bee, about 4 moi. long."" It would have been most interesting had specimens been sent for identification. Incidentally, a ttle arithmetic indicates that theré were some hundreds of thousands of in- sects in the two clusters of which the dimensiona were given. Mantis Eats Frog The following note comes from Mr. K, M, Nash, of the State Fisheries Researth Station at Snobs Creek- One of the imen at the hatchery was recently walking pest the ponds when ha heard a distress cry from a frog in the ervass. He decided to in- vestigate and to his surprise found an inch and a quarter long Golden Bell frog was firmly held in the grip of a large brown mantid (Archinan- tie latistyla”} which was eating it. The mantid was on 4 thick grass stem and firmly held the frog by the back legs with its head pointing ground- wards, There was a small raw ares on the frog where the mantid was chewing it, Both mantid and frog were carried to the faboratery where it was hoped to get a photograph, but unfortunstely at this stage the man- tid let go and the frog was released. The way the mantid held the frog fave the impression that frog eating was a regular habit. Is this a normal practice of the mantid (to eat frogs), br is the occurrence unusual? a A Koala Note During the spring and summer months many small birds nest close around the house and gar- den, blue wrens, scrub-wrens and goldfiriches chiefly, although there are many other visitors like the spinebills, white-eared honeyeaters and silvereyes and even an occasional! reed-warbler that we hope will someday take up residence. These mesting wrens are very jealous of their territorial rights and make splendid watchdogs. For some reason the appearance of a quail creeping amongst. the bushes will cause a very noisy witch-hunt and this racket will continue until the intruder has slipped through the netting into the outside paddock. It ts amu- sing to see the reaction of the blue wrens to the efforts of some unkind person imitating the whistle of the bronze cuckoo, One evening after rain a louder than usual commotion arose, The scrub-wrens wete frantic, all dancing along the hedge tops looking outwards and downwards at some moving ob- ject on the ground. Investigation showed a strange visitor patrol- ling the fence—a koala—which soun found a post and motnted it. Goaded by its small tormen- tors it sprang heavily into the yard a few feet from me. The small light eyes roved around, passing over me as if I were invisible. Then it ambled over to a tall mallee (Eucalyptus kit- soniena) and placing a hand each side of the trink it leaned 12-5 By ELLEN LYNDON its cheek against the bark. One could almost read its thoughts, “Ah, a beautiful, beautiful gum- tree!" In one sudden bound it was three feet up the trunk and soon hitched itself to a comfort- able fork, From there the tips of the twigs were pulled across and the koala fed steadily, Dur- ing the dusk unfamiliar sounds floated down from the treetop. Sounds that can only be likened to those made by a motorist testing his tyres with a pressure fauge! ; Next day during the forenoon the koala moved to a Swamp Gunvr (#. ovata). A day later it was feeding on the tips of FB. leuconylon, the red-flowering one. It returned to the mallee later, but decided to move on in the heat of the afternoon. As the koalz moved along under the trees it encountered a dog fast asleep in the shade. There was.a loud snuffling snort rather like a pic would make and as the startled dog ieapt to its feet the koala landed well up the nearest tree trunk. Next day it had moved on, Just recently another koala caused something of a traffic jam in the shopping centre of Leongatha, until it was hustled into a car and taken to a tree in a quieter spot. There are still quite a few living in public and private gardens around the township. ‘The local guides are very proud of the miniature forest that surrounds their hall and are usually sure of having Vict. Nat.—VYol, 719 at least one koala to show visi- rs. Mr. Tom Baker of Korym- burra, 2 keen observer of nature all his life, tells me that koalss visit his garden and feed on native trees and shrubs. He has noticed that they will feed on a wide variety of foliage, ap- parently enjoying the common paper-bark, Melaleucu ericifolia, Last year, as on earlier ucca- zions, Mr. Baker put out titbits for a pair of bobucks (Tyichko- surus caninus) which slept in a box in his shed and spent some months in the vicinity of his garden. I thought this rather surprising, as the hills around that town have been pretty wel! stripped except for small copses in gullies and along streams, Conference on Victorian Mammal Research With the growth of interest and activity during the past few years in the study of our Socal mammals, it has become de- sivable that some form of co- ordination be instituted between the severa) bodies engaged in research in this field. The first active step Lowards this end was taken several months ago by the Director of the Fisheries and Wildlife Department, Mr, A. D. Butcher, when he put forward suggestions to certain interested persons that his Department might arrange such liaison. An appropriate occasion arose when arrangements were made for the Fauna Survey Group of the Field Naturalists Chib to hold its regular monthly meeting, on April 5 this year, in the library of the Department. A suggestion was made to the Department that the main part of the evening could be devoted to a conference, with the result that invitations were addressed to the National Museum, the Zoology Departments of both Melbourne and Monash Univer- sities, and the Vermin and _Noxious Weeds Eoard of the Grown Lande Department. Moy 1962 The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Director of the F. and W, Department, Mr. J. McNally. He opened it by out- lining the recent growth of in- terest in local mammal research, and referred in particular to the formation a few years ago of the Australian Mammal Society. The meeting was told of the pur- pose of the present gathering: the Department's wish to main- tain a direct interest in such work and to help in matters of general liaison, for the mutual benefit of researchers, Those who had been Invited to the meeting then spoke, in turn, of their respective fields of interest. Mr. E. H. M. Haley, of Monash, told of his study of the biology and ecology of the Common Kehidna (Tackyglosses aculeatus), and of the colony of them that is being built up at the University, Mr. J. A. Thomson outlined three projects that he has in hand at the Melbourne Univer- sity: the taxonomy and distri- bution of rush-tail possums (Trichosurus) in Australia, comparative population ecology of the Bobuck (7'. caninvus) and 13 Silver-grey (7. vulpecula), and population ecolory of the Ring- tail (Pseudocheirus) in Vintorta. Mr, W, Owen, who is participa- ting in some of this work, spoke of his field studies In connexion with Trichosurus, Mr. G. W, Douglas, Deputy Chairman of the Vermin sand Noxious Weeds Destruction Board, spoke of au investigation of the distribution and ecology of the Wombat; and he indi- cated that there was scope for research into the food of foxes, as stemath contents could be made available by some of the regular shooters of the animals. Mr. MeNally commented on his Department's responsibility in connexion with conservation of dwindling mammal popula- tions on the one hand, and the damage done by some species to pastures and crops on the other hand. An outline was given of the formation of the Fauna Survey Group of the F.N.C.V., and af the various projeets its mem- bers have in hand, Comment was made on the financial assist- ance which has been given the group from the Ingram Trust, Mr. McNally tendered an apa- logy for the Mammalogist of the National Museum of Victoria, Mr. M. Ryan, who was on a field trip in the country, A Jetter from Mr, Ryan waa. read, which indicated the general re-organ- ization which is going ahead with the mamma! collections in the Museum, and two special projects that are in hand; the maintenance of a study colony of Feathertail Gliders (Acre- bales pygmaeus), and & critical survey of the bats of Australia. ha Mr. McNally also tabled a re- sume, from Mr. E. D. Gill, of the latter's new theory in con- nexion with evolution in the Australian mammals, . Mr. J. K. Dempster, of the F, and W. Department, spoke of the Investigation of kangaroo movements and other habits, in connexion t¥ith paature damare. He told of plans for the conser- vation of the Brush-tailed Rock- wallaby (Petrogale peniciliata) in Victoria, and of a Wildlife Reserve to be gazetted in the near future for that. purpose, Finally, the comment was made that the taking of mammals from their natnral habitats, for research purposes, might seem to conflict with the principles of conservation, but that it was essential to obtain the knowledge of the biology of a species before effective cunservation measures could be instituted. Mr. R. M, Warneke, also of the F. and W. Department, told of two years intensive study of the Allied Rat (Rattus assirai- lis), avising from a request for help from the Forests Com- Mission, because of damage to young trees in pine plantations. The meeting closed with the suggestion that officers of the F. and W- Department should consider the matters which had been discussed, that they should endeavour tn formulate a gene- ral plan of co-ordination, where desirable, of aspects of mammal research and surveying, and for liaison between various groups ot workers, and that these sug- gestinns be circulated to the interested bodies. —N. A. WAKEFIELD Viet. Nat.—Vol, 79 The Victorian State Film Centre Many students of hatural history are Wnaware of the very effective work of the State Iilm Centre. The centre was established quite some Years ago by the Victorian Govern- ment, and operates under the control of the Victorian Documentaty Film Council with the object of screening, or making available on free loan, cultural and educational films. These subjects include astronomy and related subjects, conservation of wildlife, fish, forestry, and many other aspects of natural history. For example, the February screenings in- cluded films on the Sirex wasp, anthro- pology, human biology, the lakes of South-east South Autralia, and the Grampians. The March programme included “Batu Caves” (Malaya), showing many kinds of bats, insects, snails, crickets, white snakes, centi- pedes and small crustaceans; “Tiny Terrors”—the scientists’ fight against biting flies; and “Edward John Eyre” (retracing Fyre’s journey irom Adel- aide te Perth). Many films have won high awards, and programmes often include such items as, for example, “Pather Pan- chali”, the famous Filni Festival pro- duction from India, Half-tone blocks are also available on Joan, and infor- mation is provided on the care and Taaintenance of 16mm. films and pro- jectors und on forming and running a film society. Regular screenings are held at Nicholas Hall, 148 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne (next to Wesley Church) at 8 p.m, on Tuesdays, except Novem- ber 7 (on Wednesday). The cantre’s Mobile Film Unit is holding sereen- ings at the Myer Music Bowl, details being advertised in the daily press. Admission 18 entirely free to all Screenings. The centre wil] forward regularly on request full details of streenings and other services. The address is: State Film Centre, 110 Victoria Street, Carlton, N.3, Phone 34 9053—4-5. —Manre E. Aaco ——" Mey 1962 Choose a suitable camera com- z4 panion from the Voigtlander range now available fram R. H. Wagner & Sons Pty. Ltd. PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS 43 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne Telephone ;: MB 3114-5-6 Gaz because the lens is so good! 15 The Freshwater Jelly-Fish, Craspedacusta sowerbyi, in Victoria: A New Record Ry Joun K. Lrnc* and Ross DuGGaNnt The freshwater jelly-fish, Craspeducuste, sowerbyt, was originally discovered in the water-lily (Victoria regia) tank in Regent's Park, London, and described by Lankester (1880) who named it in honour of its finder, Mr. Sowerby, the sec- yetary of the Park, Subse- quently, Bourne (1884) and Parsons (1885) reported a small hydroid without tentacles in the same tank and it was suggested that this was another phase in the development of the medusa. Potts (1885) described a simi- lar hydroid from Philadelphia, U.S.A., naming it Microhkydre vyderi, aiter the person making the initial American discovery, The fact that M. rydert was able to give rise to medusae by a process of budding did not be- come established until twelve years later (Potts, 1897). The question of generic affini- ties hetween the various animals deseribed over the earlier years was finally resolved by Payne (1924) who examined the com- plete life history of Wicroahydra rydevi from a small artificial lake in Indiana, U.S.A. Payne observed the whole cycle from hydroids to sexually mature medusae {female only). The generic name Craspedacusta, which had priority, was adopted for al] forms including the hyd- roid. However, differences be- tween the original English and - 16 Americin forms led Payne to regard them as distinct species: C, sowerbyi and C. rydert re- spectively. It is possible that all forms may finally be included in a single species, C. sowerbyt (Thomas, 1951) - Following a recent television feature on freshwater biology, the junior author, a student at Oakleigh High School, sought assistance from the Victorian Fisheries and Wildlife Depart- ment in identifying some fresh- water medusae in his home aquarium. The television pro- gramme included details about the discovery of Craspedacusta sowerhy? Lankester near Adel- aide some yeara ago (Thomas, 1950, 1951). A close watch was then kept on all aquaria in the home in the hope that freshwater medusse might be foand and, as it happened, success came quite quickly. On January 26, 1962, the first jelly-fish appeared in a small (12 in. x 6 in. x Gin.) aquarium placed near an easterly window in the house. In this position the water was subjected to leas direct sunlight and consequent violent fluctuations in water tempera- ture than would have been the case in 4 northérly or westerly aspect, The medusae were ex- amined by the senior author on *Fisheries and Wiliilfe Deisrtment. Present eadévess: Atitorctio Divisiun. Deoarttment of External Affairs, Melbourne. 146 Abbotsford Avenye, Chadstone. Vietoyis_ Vier. Not—Vol. 79 February 9, 1962. By placing a light behind the glass tank it was possible to discern them as small, transparent, bell-shaped organisms moving through the May 1962 Figure 1 Craspeducusta sowerbyi Lankester Medusa Aboye—Subumbrella view Centre—Lateral view Below—Umbrella view. M = manubrium; Re radical canal; T large tentacle; t = small tentacle; V = velum; Va = opening of velum. water in series of jerks. The light seemed to attract the medusae out of the weed (Elo- dea sp.) and detritus on the bottom of the aquarium. At the time of writing (April 10, 1962) a few medusae are still visible in the same aquarium tank where the original discovery was made. New medusae continued to appear up until March 23, 1962. Figure 1 shows the general shape and features of the medu- sae and figure 2 illustrates an animal in the living state. The umbrella diameters ranged from about 0°5 mm. to 1-5 mm. and the height of the umbrella was up to 1 mm. Juveniles of C. sowerbyi and other species which may turn out to be identical with it are well figured in the litera- ture (Browne, 1906; Potts, 1906; Payne, 1924; Boulenger and Flower, 1928). There seems to be no doubt that juvenile medu- sae belonging to the species Craspedacusta sowerbyi Lan- kester have in fact been dis- covered in Victoria for the first time. The species has been reported from only two other localities in Australia. These are Thorndon Park Reservoir near Adelaide, S.A. (Thomas, 1950), and Bal- main Reservoir near Sydney, N.S.W. (McNeill, 1954). In neither case were hydroid stages found; the South Australian medusae were quite large (10 7 to 22 mm. in diameter) sub- adults and adults and the New South Wales medusae also were large (9 mm. in diameter) and approaching maturity, although attempts at breeding were un- successful. The exact source of these tiny medusae in Victoria is unfortu- nately still unknown. The water in the aquarium is a mixture of small quantities collected from quite widely scattered places: Bendigo (north-west Victoria), Meeniyan (South Gippsland), Warragul (West Gippsland), Bairnsdale (East Gippsland), small ponds in and near Chad- stone as well as from the Mel- bourne domestic water supply. Attempts to catch hydroids or 18 Figure 2 Photo- micrograph of living specimen of Craspeda- custa sowerbyi Lankester. Umbrella diameter is about 0.75 mm. medusae by means of tow-net- ting at most of these places have so far been unsuccessful. The presence of such small and obviously juvenile medusae in the aquarium suggests strongly that the hydroid stage should also not be far away. However, the hydroid is very small and most inconspicuous and none has been found yet; the task should not be too difficult in a tank as small as the one in which the medusae occurred. Furthermore, it should be pos- sible to observe the process of medusoid formation from the hydroid, an event still rare enough to be of extreme scien- tific interest and certainly so when it is recorded for the first Vict. Nat.—vVol. 79 time on the fifth continent in the world, namely Australia. The authors are grateful to Mr. [. C. Smith who prepared the drawings and assisted in the field work associated with the discovery. REFERENCES Boulenger, C. L., and Flower, W. U. (1928). The Regent’s Park medusa, C€. sowerbyi and its identity with C. (Mierohydra) ryderi, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1005-1015. Bourne, A, G. (1884), On the oceur- rence of a hydroid phase of Limmno- codinm sowerbyi, Proc. Roy. Suc. 38: 9-14, Browne, E, T. (1906). On the fresh- water miedusae liberated by Muicro- hydra rydert Potts and a comparison with Limmnocodium, Quart. Jowrie. Mier. Sci. 50: 635-645. ‘Lankester, E. R. (1880). On Limno- codium (Craspedacustes) sowerbyi, A new trachomedusa inhabiting fresh- water, Quart. Journ, Mier, Sei, 20: 351-371. MeNeill, F. A. (1964). An elusive jellyfish from fresh water, Arzst. Mus. Mag. 11: 225-227, Parsons, F. A. (1885). Notes on a new hydroid polyp. Jow'n. Qwekett Mier, Club. 2: 125-130. Payne, F. (1824), Study of the fresh- water medusa Cruspedacustu ryderi. Journ. Morph, 38: 487-430. Potts, E. (1886). Microhydra ryderi. Science N.S..5 (Suppl.): 5. Potts, E. (1897). A North American freshwater jelly-fish. Amer, Nat, 31; 130-133. Potts, E. (1906). On the medusa of Microhydra rydert and-on the known forms of medusae inhabiting fresh water. Quart, Jowrn. Micr. Sci, 50: 623-633. Thomas, IT. M. (1950), Craspedacusta sowerbyi in Australia. Natwre 166: 312-313. ' Thomas, J, M. (1951). Créspedacusta. sowerbyt in South Australia, with some notes on its habits. Trans. Roy, Soc. S. Aust. 74+ 59-65. Voigtlander because the lens is so good See the Complete Range—from VITO C at £20/5/6, to BESSAMATIC at £92/5/- “T HERBERT SMALL’S 259 COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE (Opposite Hutel Australia) “Now of all times is the time to consult your reputable dealer for personalized attentian and after-sales service” HERBERT SMALL'S———AT YOUR SERVICE FOR OVER 100 YEARS May 1962 19 Book Review A Bushman’s Harvest A Buskman’s Fear was read and enjoyed by enough people to encourage its author (and its publisher} to try again. The result was A Bushwman's Hortest (F. W, Cheshire, Melbourne, 1961, 32/-.). Tnto its 189 pages—which includes a useful index—Jack Hyett has packed & welter of reliable information about the natural history of a multitude of the common and garden things or phenomena one can seo almost at any time if one cares to stop and look. Young people will be happy about the arrangement of the Lext, It de mands no great effort in contentra- tion. Each little essay is self-contained and tells s, story in simple terms and in a style that is easy and pleasing to read, Jack is a school teacher and thus niors likely than ywiost to know how touch the average youngster, can take and enjoy at one sitting. Since this book is designed to encourage in them a sympathetic approach to the pro- tection and preservation of mature he has very evidently written it with an eye to the age of the reader and, in doing so, he has produced a book that will give delight to both young and old 4s well 4s (@ those in between. His metre of the Kulkyne appeals especially to me for I am one of that steadily growing band of conservation- ists who have long ur upon the Government the pressing need for something more comprehensive, ex- tensive and worthy of the State than the present 42,000 acres of nallee and its fringe of a few fresh water lakes which constitutes the recently dedi.« cated Hattah Lakes National Park. Jack, too, has visited the Kulkyne and, under expert suidence, has seen something of its marnificent treasure. Skipping from the first to the last zection of the book the word “Trianti- wontogong” catches my eye, I have neither seen ner heard the word used before but that may be merely he- eause, these days, Tam a bit oub of touch with current schoolboy vernacu- Jar, The spider ta which ft is meant to apply was always known to ua, our 20 arents and our children as “'Triante- ope” or ''Tarantula’. Back again te the first section, where he discourses on Flying Pos- sums snd the Grester Gilder. It would bé 4 cond idea if we got used to “Glidew Posaume” and the recom- mended vernacular name “Dusky Glider” for this marsupial, Jack should have known this for, as well as being president of the Rinzweod Field Naturalists Club, he is a mem- ber of the F.N.C.V. whose Fauna Group js trying hard to bring some seuse and order into the application of acceptable common nanies for our native fauna, There is little else ta say except to add that this reviewer recommends A Buskmow's Horvest th all and sundey and compliments auther, iltus- trators and publisher for having pra- duced ‘a book which is worth having in 4 handy place on one's bookshelf, —IJ, R, GARNET West Australian Wombats — A Correction In the report on colour slides pro- jected by Mr. J, M, Wilson at tho January meeting (ref. Viet, Nat. 78; 309), a “desert wombat in avid coon- try" was listed among the “oddities of Western Atistralia”. Mr J. H. Willis now points out the inaccuracy of this statement He was present when the wombat picture was taken (1/10/61), a few miles west of Nul- larbor homestead (S.A.) and about 110 miles east of the Western Aus- traliah border. Despite a few pub- lished references to wombats in the West, there is apparently no museum Specimen to substantiate their modern occurrence anywhere in that state (see W. Aust. Awé. 8: 77, Jan. 1962), and definite evidence that they extend aeross the Western Australian border is a desideratum. Over a limited area near Nullabor, the population of Hairy-noeed Wom- bats (Lusiorhkinus latifronea) mnst be Viet, Nat—Vol, 79 considerable, My. Willis noted four dead ones—killed by passing cats— along the Eyre Highway, and he ex- plored several “wombat cities” where immense excavations had been made in the soft limestone, various burrows opening inte a common chamber as large a& a room and 45-7 feet deep. Well-worn pads radiate for hundreds of yards onto the surrounding plain which carries only a sparse cover of saltbush and bluebush (Ateviples and Kochaa species), much of it moribund, and it ig astonishing how such large animals can find enough herbage (or roots) to survive, Latrobe Valley Field Naturalists Club The annual meeting of this affiliated elub was held on Pebruary 28, 1962, and office-bearers elected were: Presi- dent, Mr. I. Faisst, George Street, Morwell; Secrétary, Mr, D. G. Mar- shall, State Schaol, Morwell West. The club's second yesr has heen éven more successful than the in- augural wear. The most significant achievementa were the establishment of a 12-acre reserve through the auspices of Australian Paper Manu- facturers, the advice and agsistance given to the Joint Tourist Committee associated with the development of the Baw Baws and the Yallourn Storage Dam Advisory Committee, Aims for the forthcoming year in- clude the preservation of the Butterfly Orchid (Sarcoehilus parvijlurus) in its only known Gippsland habitat ex- cept for the rain forests of Hast Gipps- land. The case has been prepared by Mrs. Ellen Lyndon and Miss J. Gal- braith and will be presented soon, During the year many interesting excursions and club nights haye been held, The club is fortunate in hein self-supporting in regard to gbo speakers. The highlight of the year was the nature display in Morwell Town Hall, with its dividends in prestige, new membership and finan- cial returns. All three Gippsland Field Natural- ists Olubs have agreed to form an affilistion to further joint activities and strengthen moves for conserva- tion, The camera for the scientific photographer MICRO — MACRO... ULTRA CLOSE-UP AND TELEPHOTO A complete selection of accessories and interchangéable Jenses gives you tremendous scope with tne PENTAX Single Lens. Reflex Camera. Eleven superb Takumar Lenses—among the finest in the world today—trange from 35 mm, wide angle ta 1,000 mm, extreme telephoto. bellows. units, include close-up lenses, extension tubes orid rings, copy stands, microscope adop- tor—al| that’s needed for the scien- tist photographer. PENTAX ~ . . Japan’s largest selling Accessories single Jens reflex camera, Three models avoiloble—priced from £65. ASAHI PENTAX IS PERFECTION May 1962 2q Field Naturalists General Meeting—April 9. 1962 The main hall at the Herbarium was slmost Alled with members aud friends. Mr, D, BE, McInnes presided, and welcomed Mr, D. N, Honie from the Queensland Field Naturalists Club, ' Members were shocked to leari of the death of Mr. Paul Fisch, and they stood for a nilniite in silence in respech of his memory, Mr J. H, Willis spoke in appreciation of Mr, Pisch and his intelligent and devoted interest im nataral science, He and his family were always prominent as exhibitors and helpers at Nature shows, and, after founding the Haw- thorn Junior Field Naturalists Club, he played an almost single-handed role in condacting meetings and trans, potting junior members. Mr. J. R, Garnet read a letter from Miss Wigan in appreciation of a Visit paid by F_N,C.V. members, and also one from Mr. Aléx Chisholm, The President appealed for a volun- teer to bring up to date the catalogue of photographic blocks of the Natural- ist, Further delegates to represent the club at the AN.Z.A.A.8. Con- fersiice were sought, Wr. J, M, Wilson asked that sug- gestions for the Landscape Preserya- tion Council] should be entered on forms provided, The subject for the evening was “One Year South" by Mr. G. Wheeler, who spent over 4 year as a weather- recording officer at Mawson, visiting Kerguelen and Heard tsland an the way hame. The tragic heroic Scott expedition was recalled with a picture ef Seutt's hut below the 14,000-feet Mount Erebus and a imemortal of 1912 to Sentt, Wilson, Oates, Bowers and Evans, inseribed “To strive, to seek, ta find, and not to yield". M4 Taylor Glacier a proclamation Was shown, erected by Sir Douglas Mawaon in 1931, claiming the land Tor the King of England. Geophones for measuring ice depth, masts for signals ta the ionosphere, and exploring with planes on skis 22 Club of Victoria were explained and illustrated. Excel- lent colour slides were shown of Wed- de] Seals, whose teath are adapted for chewlig ide to keep the holes open, of their very appealing young, of nesting Skua Gulls, Adelie and Em- fFeror Penguins whose eggs ¢an be opened with a hacksaw. Breath- saking were the pichures taken from forty feet down suspended in ice crevasses. The awful beauty of the freeze, of black icebergs and orange lichens, and the thril) of the beginning of the thaw were graphically con- veyed and highly appreciated by the audience. Mr. Wheeler was thanked hy Mr, J. P, Ourlls and Mr. BE. Byrne. Fourteen new club members were elected, and nominations were invited fot Council for the caming year. Mr. J. R. Garnet brought phots- raphe showing a visit of the P.N.C.V. and others, including the then Gover- nor of Victoria, to Wilson's Promon- tory in 1910, and showed very large specimens of a chiton amd a sea- familias (Aphrodite) from Corner In- ef, Mr. H. Haase had a fine specimen of gayden-grown Bonkeia spinuloca;, Mr. A. J, Swaby, Chorizema wieafolia, Corre. buekhousiana, and Mann's Correa. Bonkain spinulosa, Melaleuca pulekella, Lippia nocdiflorva var repens and Solerum woenthocarpum; Mr. M, P. Duke, a fine collection of pressed eucalypts and their fruits; and Mr- A. G. Hooke, Eucalyptus pauctfiora from Gelantipy, with marks in its bark ["seribbles") esused by insect larvae as yet unidentified, F. glauces- cens us a mallee from seven to eight feet hick from Little River Gorge, Wolgulmerang, and reported by Mr, K. Rogers as growing on Mount Strad- broke at 4,000 feet, and EB. aweithii growing as a mallee, also in the Little River area, Mr, B. H. Coghill showed «a Jarge fiy, Formoste species, of a group which parasitizes insects. Mr. P, Biman exhibited upright tubes fram Airey’s Inlet road shout one and a half inches high constructed of small oval wud pellets, some almost latticed, some solid, and asked for information Vict. Nal.—yVal, 79 about them; they were unfamiliar to experts to wham they had been sub- mitted, and were new to members also. Mr. W_ C.. Woollard said that, ol a recent trip to the Promoiitory, he had found the Japanese Hog Teer very tame and friendly. New modern sécojiivodation is being prayided at Tidsi River, Mr. D. BE. Mecbines found magpies eating lavge numbers of bull-ants at Mount Eliza, Mr, J. A. Baines re- orted a great number of Magpie arks on the Metropolitan Golf Links, and Mr. J. M. Wilson had seen Pro peepee Caterpillar bags at Menjn- iz, Microscopical Group—February 21, 1962 Me EB, Le Maistre chalred the meeting, which was attended by six- teen ineinbers. The programme for the rest of the year was discussed, lt was decided ta apply to the Ray Society for membership so that the excellent publications of this society eould be received. Mr, P. Genery discussed the use of polystyrene as a mouvitant. in micro- scopy and demonstrated some points of its application, Some prepared slides gave a water-clear appearance in comparizon with the yellowness of Canada balsam, Slides an exhibition were: Pura- ponys larva (P. Genery, A. Scott and E. Snell); Rarvetrw larva (W, Gen- ery); Desmid (Plewrotagmium) (EB. Le Maistre); an untsaal Paramoec- ctw (J. Strone); penguin feather in polystyrene (P, Genery); 2ossil Diatoms from Santa Monica (H, B. Barrett); a wasp (D. Melines); and sponge spicules (K. Trotter), Botany Group Meeting—March 8, 1982. 5 Mr. J. M. Wilson gave 2 splendidly ihistrated talk on his trip to Western Australia last spring with Mr. J. H- Willis. Accompanied by their wives, they went by car, towing a trailer equipped with rollecting gear such as plant presses. Mr. Willis, who will address the annual meeting of the vlab in June on this subject, obtained a great many spetimens to add to the May 1962 Western Avstralian flora in the National Herbarium, Melbourne, while Mr. Wilson’s aim was ta pro- cure, with the appYoval of the Goy- ernment Botanist in Perth, sceds and plants for Victorian growers of Aus tralian plants, Good work in improvite Western Australiin flowers has already been dene in Victoria, and there are now excellent prospects that similar suc- eess will how he achieved with the Javely Qualup Bell (Pimelen phy- sodes), specimens of which were ob- tained on East Mount Barren, This ig ane of the many beautiful western wildflowers with restricted habitab, and therefure exposed la a real risk of extinction. A comprehensive tour af the best areas Was carried out, but most time was spent in the sand-plaih country, af Badingarra, west of Moora. Geology Group—April 4, 1952 Twenty members and visiters were presefit, with Mr, L. Angior in the chair, He reported on the excursion to Reid's Quarry, Plenty, on Saturday afternoon, March 17, This quarry is situated on the bank of the Plenty River in shale of Silurian Age, After cvushing, the shale is passed through a rotary kiln, being subjected to pro- gressively Increasing temperatures in its passage through. This process ex- pands and lightens the product which is used ag aggregate for making light- weight concrete, The processed shale is marketed under the trade name of *Shalite™, The subject for the evening Wis @ talk enlitled “Gemstones”. oy Mr. Bruce Hardie, a well-known gem- ologist, Mr, Hardie outlined the gem- stone localities and resources of the various states and explained that Victoria is vather déficient in good stones, Apart from a few agates in the Moorabool River there js little in the way of gemstones in the western portion of Victoria, The best. locality appears to be iw the Dandenongs around Selby where agate of excel- tent quality occurs together with fair sapphires and a. little topaz. Sonte food jaspers aré lecated at Heathcote and agates and other stones at Beech- worth. Quartz atid zircon are fairly 33 ' widespread although the zireon is generally in grains too small for eutting. The speaker described the Various methods of cutting and polish- ing—¢abachon and facetting—aud the type of equipment used and which can be made by the amateur. The different types of cut—cabachon, brilliant, step, etc.—were illustrated on the black- board. Mr, Hardie had on display an éxtensive exhibit of genystones, all cut by himself, Other exhibits were a tollection of polished specimens of yarlous rocks and some cut semi-precious stones, by Mr, Davidson, Fauna Survey Group—April 3, 1962 Ninetee: inembers stlended, with Mr, N- Wakefield in the chair, in the library of the Fisheries and Wild- life Department, Business was re- duced to a minimum because jit had been arranged that most of the eyen- ing should be devoted to a conference between representatives from various organizationsSconceried with the study of native mammals, It was reported that twelve more wite-mesh traps had been acquired to Supplement those now being used by the group. As well, the new permit from the Fisheries and Wildlife De- partment was tabled. Correspondence was dealt with. The cutgoing included a circular to ¢coun- try field naturalists seeking informa- tian about local maramals, aud a letter to the Fisheries and Wildlife Deypart- Yment on the conservation of the habi- tat of Leadbeater's Possum, Miss J. Furphy reported observa- tions made during 4 Wight excursion to the Marysville area, and Mr, J. MeKean gave details of progress with the hat-banding programme. Mr, Wakefield reported on an excursion to the Kista-Kaniva district. Future work was discussed: Mr, McKean's plans include excursions ta Bright and Hattah. and Messrs. Wake- field and McCallim are to work in the Portiand area during Raster. The meeting was adjourned at this stage, and thereafter Mr. J. MeNally Depaty Director of the Fisheries arn Wildlife Department, took over to conduct proceedings whirh are te- ported on page 13 of this issue of the Noturalist 24 Marine Biology and Entomology Group—April 2, 1962 The meeting was thaired by Mr, EB. H. Coghill, and eighteen members Were present. The lecture for the evening was on the Sirex wasp, fol- lowed by a snorter lecture on cicadas, both of which were given by Mr. H. B- Wilson, chief entomologist of the Burnley School of Horticulture. The lecturer deseribed the life history of the cutrent threat to the Victorian softwoods industry, and the rapt at- tention of his hearers culminated in many questions being asked after his talk. Mr. Wilson expressed his wil- lingness to help with any entomologi- cal problems that may artse, where possible by telephone. Mr, Coghill spoke on sa fly, For- Mosia speciog@, which he had cap- tured on the Torquay outing, The Growp programme for the re- mainder of the yeav was discussed, Miss V. Balaam will give a Jecturette on scale insects at the May meeting. On Tuesday, June 5, Miss Hope MePherson, Curator of Moiluses, National Museum, is to speak on 2 Warine survey of Port Phillip Bay carried out by the Marine Study Group, using slides to illustrate the lecture. Mrs, Z. Lee will shaw slides also, at the July meeting, to which Mrs. White and other members will speak. Nominations For Olfice-bearers for 1961-62 President—Mr. M. K. Woughton. Vice-presidents—Mre_ BE. Byrne, Mr. J, H, Quirk, Treaskrer—Mr. A. G. Hooke. Asst. T'reaswre7—Mias M. Hutrhart. Secretany—My, 8. H. Coghill, Asst, Seeretary—Mr, F, R. Hudaort, Editor—Mr. N, A, Wakefield, Librenin—Miss M, EB. Argo. Hirevrsion Seeretavy—Miss M. Al. lender, Councsil—Mr. J. BR. Garnet, Dr, W- Geroe, Me, EB. K, Allan, Me. RB, R, Dodds, Mr. A. J. H. Faivhall, Viet. Naf,—Vol, 79 The Victorian Naturalist Vol. 79 (2) June, 1962 Published by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria In which is incorporated the Microscopical Society of Victoria Registered at the General Post Office, Melbourne, for transmission by post as a periodical 2/6 Hooded Robin at Nest This picture was taken by Ronald K. Munro at Pearcedale, on the Mornington Peninsula, in November 1937. The nest was in a banksia and only three feet from the ground. The Hooded Robin (Melanodryas cucullata) fayours somewhat open country. 30 Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Vol. 79, No. 2 June 7, The Victorian Naturalist Editor; NORMAN WAKEFIELD, B.Sc. CONTENTS Editorial: Interest in Nature—and a Challenge Articles: Stereo Photo-macrography, by C. H. Gittins .. Diatoms in Port Phillip Bay, by H. Barrett .. Features: Australian Wattles: Currawang—Acacia doratoxylon, and Catkin Wattle—A. dallachiana, by Jean Galbraith .. . Along the By-ways with the Editor: Finches Eat “Meat-mash”, Short-nosed Bandicoot, Diet of Giant Slugs" . » . Field Naturalists Club of Victoria: a May General Meeting, Group Meetings... .. .. es Eighty-second Annual Report, 1961-62 .. Financial Statements, 1961-62 Diary of Coming Events ., be a} 23 _ Miscellaneous: Moomba Nature Show .. .;? Affiliated Clubs Front Cover 1962 32 33 41 40 44 46 48 52 55 45 48 Yellow-tails, Ptilotus nobilis, is quite rare in Victoria, where it is confined to the north-west. This photograph was taken in north-western New South Wales, on the eastern slopes of the Grey Range. The spikes are 3-4 inches and the plants covered acres of ground, The picture was published in the Naturalist in October 1924 (Vol. 41, page 108). June 1962 high, Opp. “31 Editoriol: Interest in Nature— and a Challenge In this issue of the Victorian Naturalist, there appears the eighty-second annua! report of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. The figures in it, re- lating to club membership and to circulation of the Natwralist, are most illuminating, especially when comparisons are made with earlier records which appeared in similar reports a few years ago. In April 1959 there were 491 members of the F.N.C.V. At the end of Apri) this year there were 851. And, during the same three- year period, the circulation of the Naturelisé rose from less than 600 to the present figure of almost 1200. Coupled with this, there has been a growth of kindred societies in country districts. In 1959 there were some sixteen, clubs affliated -with the F.N.C.V. Now the figure stands at 23. The Bird Observers Club like- wise has expanded, From 226 in 1952, its membership has grown steadily over the ensuing ten years to the present aggregate of 764, The degree to which the gene- ral population of the state is learning to turn to the natural countryside for leisure and en- joyment is reflected in published statistics of visitors to some of cur national parks. For instance, in 1959-60 there were 1039 visi- tors to Wyperfeld, while in 1960- 61 the number was 2087. In 1958-59 the Tidal River camping area at Wilson's Promontory catered for 27,935 persons; in 1959-60 the figure was 29,537; 32 and in 1961-62 it rose to 4 record 38,566. General natural history books are much in demand, John Child’s Avyztralian lusecte and his Australian Sea Shells, pub- lished recently, both sold out the first. impression in a very short time, Now, the second jmpres- sion Of Bach is just as much in demand. Jack Hyett’s Bushman’s Year sold 5000 copies in two years, In November last, hig Bushman’s Horvest appeared. ‘The latter rated third on the Age “Avstra- lian best seller” list on Decem- -ber 28. On January 20, it rated second, and a week later it topped the list, It is apparent that there is a rapidly expanding interest in natural history and a growth of appreciation of the natural en- vironmént. This situation should be stimulating to all members of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria and to members of organizations with similar aims and interests, But it also conati- tutes a challenge, An increasing percentage of the population of the state is seeking knowledge of and con- tact with the countryside and its fauna and flora, One of the first aims of any natural history society is to eater for such in- terests. The growing demand needs to be met by vigorous policies within such organiza. tions, and this calls for active participation by all members in’ the projects which are organized by the various club councils and committeés. Vict. Not.—Vol, 79 Stereo Photo-macrography A plant specimen, dried be- tween sheets of absorbent paper in a press, preserves a satisfac- tory record of the leaves and the shoot; but the fragile flowers suffer drastically from this treat- ment, being crushed flat and dis- torted almost beyond recognition save to the expert, whilst only too often the characteristic colours vanish in a matter of weeks, Photography offers a means of supplementing the record contained in the herbarium specimen, and for the compli- cated three-dimensional forms assumed by flowers, the com- paratively ancient (but at present unjustly neglected) art of stereo photography is particu- larly suitable. Briefly, this art consists of taking two photo- graphs of the subject, one slightly from the right, and the other slightly from the left. 'The pictures are then viewed so that the right eye sees only the right- hand picture and the left eye sees only the left-hand picture, the result being a highly con- vincing illusion that one is view- ing, not two flat pictures, but a solid three-dimensional model of the subject. For several years the writer, an amateur botanist, has been developing a tethnique for taking on colour film stereo pairs of the small native flowers whose interesting structure and beauty of form and colour cannot be appreciated without magnifica- tion, Photography in this size June 1962 By C. H. Girtrns range, carried out with 2 camera Jens and a bellows, has been named photo-macrography, in distinction from photo-iicra- graphy in which much higher magnifications are obtained by coupling the camera to a micro- scope, The two pictures constituting the stereo pair may be taken Simultaneolisly with some form of double camera, and if the subject is in motion this is in- deed the only way. But for still subjects, equal results are ob- “tained with a single camera, taking first one picture, then moving the camera sideways the appropriate distance and taking the second. Furthermore, when the subject is small, it is more convenient to fix the camera and votate the subject through a small angle between exposures. This is the method dealt with here. «+ My introduction to the idea of this recking stage technique was by R, M. Allen’s book en- titled “Photomicrography”’, in which the author stressed his preference for it: he gave the angle of 14° as the correct amount of rotation, It is easy to see how this angle of 14° is de- rived; tt is the average angle subtended by the distance sepa- rating the human eyes at the least distance of comfortable vision, so that when we take anything in our hands and ex- amine it intently, the conver- gence of our eyes approximates 14°. I used this angle for my 33 first experiments without the least doubt as to its correctness. The results convinced me, how- ever, that it is excessive, for there was an apparent lenethen- ing in the Sine-of-sight dimen- sion; so that, for instance, a saucer-shaped flower seemed cup-shaped, or a corolla-tube down which one peered seemed annaturally lengthened. Redu- cing the angle of rotation to 94° gave satisfactory results, and I have used this angle ever since as a reasonable compromise; the stereo effect is strong and dra- matic, but the distortion noted above, if not entirely eliminated, is not obtrusive. More experi- ment is needed to determine the_ ideal angle, as, among other things, the conditions of viewing may well have a bearing on the matter. » Although this article is pri- marily concerned with stereo technique, it seers desirable to make some explanations con- cerning the equipment required for photo-macrography in gene- ral, and the conditions necessary for its success. The first of these conditions is that the photo- grapher should be able to ex- amine on a ground glass screen for focussing and composition, the actus] image which, when the exposure is made, will be projected on the film, In terms of modern 25 mm. cameras, this méans a single-lens-reflex cam- era, Some-cameras, which use range-finder foctissing, also pro- - vide a reflex attachment as an accessory. The second condition, which, if not quite so fundamen- tal, is an almost indispensible convenience, is that the lens should be removeable in ordinary 34 light without spoiling the film in the camera. Another con- venience, not indispensible but highly desirable, is an electronic flash unit. as illuminant. The other equipment the photo- gerapher contrives for himself. So much for material equip- ment; now for a little necessary knowledge. When the subject being photographed is quite small, the exposure must be mul- tiphed by a certain factor to compensate for the smal! area from which the light reaching the film is reflected. This ex- posure factor is derived from a simple formula found in the text books, viz, E = (M + 1)* where M is the “magnification or more exactly the ratio length of image on film , length of subject ° the formula being valid also when M is unity or a proper fraction. For example it will be noted that for the particular case Where the image is the same size as the subject, E = (1+ 1)°, or four times as Much exposure is required as for a large sub- ject similarly illuminated. To proceed now from the gene- ral to the particular, the draw- ings reproduced here represent a simplified construction of the actual stereo-macro-stand used by the writer. LB is the lens-board fixed to upright column C, Figure 1 Stereo-manero-stand Left—Pront elevation, Right—Side elevation, {One-qaneler actual size} Viel, Not.—Vol, 79 TWardO? ¥ e / \ Vey June 1962 35 8 is the stage whose holder slides up and down the lower part of C and may be clamped at any required point. CH is the camera-holder sliding up and down the upper part of G and clamped at any required point, B is the bellows connecting the camera to the lens. Referring to the stage, shown also in plan view, P, P, are the pivots on which the stage rocks. St are the stop-serews which limit’ this motion, LS is the lamp-slide, attached to the stage and rocking with it; it is con- venient to have it graduated in centimetres ,for lamp position, with origin at the point where the subject iz centred, the inter- section of the optical and pivotal axes. , L is a sma!) electronic flash- lamp which moves up and down LS and is clamped etc, at any required point, BG is a background sheet, of which several aré required in different colours: it also is at- tached to the stage and racks with it. US is what. is termed the upper stage {in the plan drawing, shown removed from the stage and placed beside it, for the sake of clarity) ; it rests on the rock- ing frame and is lightly clamped thereto by the epring-fingers SPF in the same manner as a slide on the stage of a microscope, and for the same reason, to enable it to be slipped about to centre the subject in the optical field, and also to be readily removed and replaced in the course of subject preparation. In the plan drawing tt is shown furnished 36 “ with a stem-clamp, a millimetre scale held in the plane of the pivots, and a “fill-in reflector’ consisting of a piece of sheet- metal bent into a semti-cylinder, painted flat white inside, and Placed around the subject an the side opposite to the lamp, serving to fill in the hard shadows which the single light souree would otherwise create, Other holes shown permit different arrange- ments of holding devices for the réquirémants of different sub- jects, The millimetre acale referred ta above, whether or not it bé left in the picture, plays an essential part in preliminary setting: when 7t is focussed im the reflex screen, the length visible is 4 measure of the mag- Nification, from which the eor- rect exposure ts calculated ; being supported ii the pivotal plane, it serves ag a marker of that plane, in which the subject must also be placed; and finally being in sharp black and white con. trast it is an @asy subject to focus, 80 that better results may sometimes be obtained hy placing the subject close beside the scale and focussing the latter, rather than trying to focus the subject itself, The lens shown is a 13-5 em, focal length “Xenar” and it will be seen that the end which is normally placed in the camera is here pointed towards the sub- ject. In fact, in a macro appara- tus, the subject and the film virtually change places, the sub- ject being neurer to the lens than the film. In these circumstances one would expect the corrections of the lens to be better preserved in the reversed position, and Viet. Nat—Voal 79 Figure 2 Lejt—Plsn of stave. Upper right—Viewer. having tried both ways, I believe that it is so, but the difference is not so obvious that I am pre- pared to be dogmatic about it. It may be objected that the employment of such a long-focus lens makes necessary a very long bellows and results in a tall and cumbersome stand. This is true, but the need for the extra depth of focus which the long lens affords is so vital, that it over- rides considerations of con- venience. Attaching the lamp to the rocking’ stage requires robust construction of the stage frame or small size and weight in the lamp. If these conditions carmot be met, it is best to use several lamps disposed around the sub- ject to produce shadowless light- ing, otherwise the odd fault of shadows apparently floating in mid-air will appear in the re- June 1962 Loudy +right—Upner stage, One-third netual size sults. If the lamps do not move with the stage, the background sheet should not do so either, If a light source specially made for photographic purposes is used, the maker will supply information which will enable appreximately correct exposure to be calculated in terms of Jamp-distance. For example, in the smal] flash-lamp represented in the drawings the (metric) Indieating Number for Koda- chrome is 11. If this indicating number be divided by the f num- ber at which the lens diaphragm is set, the quotient is the distance in metres at which the lamp should be placed from the sub- ject, for average reflecting con- ditions. “Exposure”, with flash- lamps, thus means a distance, not 4 time. As an example recapitulating what has been said about ex- \37 Finder-field, m™m,: 4 5 6 F & 810 21 128 14 14 15 $6 18 20 Lamp distance, gm,:| £11 ]18 21 24,27 30 82 34 37 39 40 42 da 45 48 57 Lamp distance, em,:| £16 1/12 14 16 18 20 22 24 25 27 28 29 20 31 33 35 Lamp distance, em.:| £22 || 8-8 10 12 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 26 Table 1 Example of computed dala posuré calculation, take the case where, on focussing the milli- metre scale in the reflex screen, _ 8 millimetre divisions appear across the width of the field, Since the width of the film frame js 24 mm. the magnification would appear to be 3, but a com- plication exists here in the camera makers’ practice of masking the border of the finder- field fo allow the user @ margin ef error in aiming. In my c¢am- era, this masking is too liberal to be neglected, and I know from past. comparisons that when 8 mim. appear in the screen 10mm, will appear in the finighed pic- ture. The actual magnification is therefore only 24-10, or 2:4, and the exposure factor & is (2441)* Supposing that depth of focus considerations require that the lens be stopped down to fi6, then the first cal- culation of lamp distance is ta divide the lamp indicating num- ber (for Kodachrome,'11 metric, in my lamp) by 16 = %n métre or 69 cm. nearly, This “ex- posure’ of 69 cm. has now to be multiplied by E, but since it is in the form of lamp distance, the number must of course be reduced, and according to the radiation law of inverse squares, Thus, corrected exposure — 69 4 vEe™ =69= /(2447)% =69— 3 4=> 20 cm. néarly, The 3a! simplified rule for lamp distance may be expressed im words: Divide the indicating number of the lamp by the diaphragm f number, and then divide the quotient by the magnification— plus one. it is a good plan to do ail this figuring once and for all ane have the results in tabular form Above is an exerpt from the table in my notebook, referring to Kodachrome. It now remains to say a few words about viewing the resulta of the stereo technique. Figured is A diagrammatic representa- tion of the viewer which IT use. T, T, represent the trans parencies in the usual 2” x 2” - mounts, inserted through slots in the sides or top of the viewer, 6-2 cm, centre-lo-centre dis- tance. lis a 3-watt lamp supplied from a small transformer or battery. R is a curved sheet- metal reflector painted flat white, Ln, Ln are lenses, the centre-to-centre distance he- tween them being adjustable be- tween the limits of 5-8 cm, and 6-8 cm. and also capable of con- venient movement in the line- of-sight direction for focus ad- justment. The lenses are prefer- ably flat-field corrected of about 5 em, focal Jength. Prisms are not required. In locating the transparencies in the viewer, it is important that corresponding points in the Vict. Ner—Vol. 79 pictures should be on the same level; closing first one eye and then the other will reveal a high picture and a trim taken off the bottom of the mount will then lower it into line. Projection of the stereo effect is feasible, using a double pro- jector and crossed polaroid screens over the projector lenses and the eyes of the spectator, so that the right eye cannot see the left hand image and vice- versa; I have seen a demonstra- tion, and the result is satisfac- tory, but beyond that I cannot speak of projection from ex- perience. When the photographer re- ceives the finished transparen- cies, he probably will not know which of a pair is the right- hand one and which is the left, but a trial will leave him in no doubt; if wrongly placed, the background appears thrust for- ward, and the foreground pushed behind it, the whole presenting a chaotic and ridiculous jumble. But when a _ successful stereo pair is correctly viewed, the effect far transcends in realism any other kind of photography. A point worth noting is that, given the rocking stage, it takes no longer to produce a stereo pair than a single picture; the preparation of a difficult sub- ject, including abandonments of spoiled specimens and recom- mencements, may well consume many hours; but having achieved the desired result and made the first exposure, to rock the stage and take another is a matter of seconds only. — 4 Choose a suitable camera com- panion from the Voigtlander range now available from H. Wagner & Sons Pty. Ltd. PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS 43 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne Telephone: MB 3114-5-6 because the lens ts so good! June 1962 39 Australian Wattles—No, 36 Currawang — Acacia doratoxylon, and Catkin Wattle —A. dallachiana These are two catkined wattles with long phyllodes, and they belong to north-eastern Victoria, though Currawang extends also into East Gippsland at Suggan Buggan and Wulgulmerang. Currawang is a rather stiff shrub or small tree, of rocky mountainous country. It is erect, with blunt or shortly pointed phyllodes several inches long but barely half an inch wide. The little point is usually bent, and the phyllodes are sometimes slightly curved though not sickle- shaped, tapering to the base but an even width for most of their length, thick and firm, with many inconspicuous parallel nerves. As a rule they point sharply up- ward, and young branches are so strongly angled as to appear flattened. At first, the stalked narrow inch-long flower spikes which spring from the leaf-axils are more or less lumpy and uneven with crowded “pin-head’’ buds of individual flowers, and they open in late spring into dense pale yellow catkins, followed by long slender pods only slightly narrowed between the seeds. Currawang is a native of all the mainland states of eastern Australia, but Catkin Wattle is recorded only from the Mount Buffalo area of Victoria, though Dry Specimen of Catkin Wattle, A. dallachiana ; leg. R. D, Croll, Eurobin Falls. Photo; F. Faisst. 40 By JEAN GALBRAITH I have collected it as far north as Beechworth. Catkin Wattle is usually taller than Currawang, being a grace- ful little tree with phyllodes up to six inches long and an inch wide, noticeably curved and tapered towards each end. Each phyllode has several conspicuous parallel ribs, with a net of fine but quite noticeable connecting nerves patterning the dull sur- face with raised lines. Though both species have long catkins from the leaf axils, Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 the buds of Catkin Wattle are very different from those of Currawang. They are stalkless, numerous, and conspicuously neat, with overlapping bracts covering the individual flower buds and forming a diamond pattern almost like that of a young banksia spike. At one stage they look like nothing so much as a number of thin grubs with heads clamped onto the axis and tails in the air. They open into very dense light yellow catkins, up to two inches long. erect, and usually curved, of remarkably even width. Catkin Wattle flowers in mid- spring, and in early summer it is sometimes noticeable because the rachis (central axis) of each eatkin which has not produced a pod remains as a long brown thread amongst the phyllodes. The pods are narrow like those of Currawang, but are more narrowed between the rather thick seeds. Diatoms in Port Phillip Bay Diatoms comprise an order of microscopic algae, and have a pill-box structure, consisting of two valves connected by a hoop. Their peculiarity however is that they have a siliceous skeleton, and that makes them desirable objects for the microscope once they have been cleaned, as the valves are covered with lines of dots or punctures, some so fine as to test the best apochromatic immersion lens. This article de- scribes likely spots where marine forms may be found, and how to collect them. A very simple outfit is all that is required: three or four jars with screw covers, a specimen tube or two, a large spoon, and a drag-hook for bringing in weeds that are otherwise out of reach, The localities about to be dealt with can all be reached within half an hour’s journey of Mel- bourne. The collector should try to reach the spot he has in mind about an hour before low tide and then follow the tide down, June 1962 By H. BARRETT since it is from the pools near the tide level that the best re- sults are usually obtained. It should, however, be remembered that searching after stormy weather is useless, since the pools will be swept clean, the best results being obtained after a spell of calm weather. Favourable hunting grounds range from Carrum on the south to Seaholme on the north, so Carrum may conveniently be considered first. Cross the bridge over the Patterson River and after a short stroll along the embankment the lock gates at Kananook Creek are reached. Here, on the river side of the gates, there is as a rule plenty of weed, usually covered with Melosira and a fair sprinkling of Campylodiscus. Coming back along the river bank several tidal pools will be seen, and by scraping the sur- face of the mud round the edges several varieties of Plewrasigma are usually to be obtained. 4) A Diatom, Arachnoidiscus japonicus, X 400, An upper and a lower valve, also a complete frustule in zonal view, showing the pillbox structure common to many discoid diatoms. Some samples should also be taken from the creek itself. A few years ago it contained a large variety of forms, but lat- terly it has become more or less stagnant and the diatomaceous growth has been adversely af- fected. Another spot well worth a visit is Mordialloc Creek. After crossing the bridge, walking along the south bank and pass- ing under the railway bridge, a considerable quantity of weed becomes visible in the creek. It may be necessary to use the drag- hook in order to obtain some of this, but the effort is well worth- while since there are always diatoms on it. These may some- times be Melosira borreri and Nummiuloides, or, at other times, Podosira and Synedra will be 42 the most numerous. Scrapings from the mud at the edge of the creek may supply yet other species. Both there and at Car- rum the diatoms are mainly the brackish species, together with a few purely marine forms. Further along the beach to- wards Melbourne is Ricketts Point. After a spell of calm weather this is one of the best collecting grounds within easy reach of the city. The fine brown weed and the sea-grass near the reefs are often coated with dia- toms during the summer months, usually Licmophora or Clima- cosphenia, and sometimes Gram- matophora serpentina are ob- tainable from this source. An even larger variety of forms, however, is obtainable by ‘arefully scraping the surface Vict. Nat.—vVol. 79 of the fine sand and mud on the bottoms of the rock pools and crevices left dry by the retreat- ing tide; among them will be varieties of Triceratium, Stauro- neis, Synedra and many others. Along the coast to Brighton several reefs well worth inspec- tion will be passed, notably one at Quiet Corner, and, to digress a little, the beaches near this spot are often covered with foraminifera. Continuing along the beach for about half a mile beyond Brighton pier there will be found another extensive reef. Although sometimes rendered barren by rough weather, this, under favourable conditions, is as good a collecting ground as is Ricketts Point. Some fine specimens of a quadrate variety of Triceratium spinosum have been found here. From Brighton Beach = on- wards the sandy beaches offer little of interest until Williams- town is reached, though some- times the red or brown algae washed up by the tide will repay examination. Although good gatherings have been made at Williamstown, the collecting grounds there are unfamiliar to the writer; they will therefore be by-passed and those at Sea- holme dealt with. There con- ditions are rather different from those at the places discussed earlier, and it will probably be found necessary to wade through some shallow stretches of water before the seagrass beds can be reached. The small tufts of brown algae in the shallow water at low tide should not be neg- lected, as they are sometimes covered with Sftriatella and June 1962 Rhabdonema, whilst the pools contain several varieties of Cam- pilodiscus, together with nume- rous other species. Given favourable weather con- ditions, collecting at any of the sites mentioned is practically certain to provide material well worthy of further examination. Moomba Nature Show 1962 The Moomba Nature Show was held in Lower Melbourne Town Hall from March 3 to March 12 and was highly successful, with a record at- tendance of children and adults. The many fine exhibits, which aroused much interest, included: Rep- tiles, arranged by the F.N.C.V. (by courtesy of Mr. Harvey Dickison) ; marine, geological, ethnological and botanical features of the beaumaris district (also arranged by F.N.C.V.); a large and most informative exhibit, displayed by the Zine Corporation, showing the industrial mineral wealth of Broken Hill and its regeneration from a wasteland (caused by mining operations and wind erosion) to a garden city, as a result of the plant- ing of trees and other vegetation. Other fine exhibits included those arranged by the Bird observers’ Club, Ringwood Field Naturalists Club, Federation of Walking Clubs and Native Plants Preservation Society. Particularly noteworthy were the Forests Commission’s Sirex wasp ex- hibit, and minerals and gemstones displayed by the Mines Department, largely from the Beechworth area. As usual, the display and competi- tion work from schools, arranged by the Gould League of Bird Lovers, aroused much favourable comment. Excellent films were shown and lec- turettes given, and the publications stand was well patronized. Hearty thanks are due to the members of the F.N.C.V. and other co-operating bodies who staffed the exhibits, and the organizers, headed by Mr. A. B. Court, are to be congratulated on the excellent results achieved. —M. E. Arco 43 Neo Editor . a a With-the These notes and queries. Address your correspondence to the Editor, “Victorian Naturalist’, P.O. Box 21, Noble Park, Victoria. columns are available Finches Eat ““Meat-mash” A curious development was recorded in a note in the Vic- torian Naturalist for April 1962 —Vol. 78, page 358—which stated that several species of finches in north Queensland ‘are now eating carrion’, as made available by the bodies of bandi- coots, etc., killed by cars on bitu- men roads. In this connexion, Mr. A. H. Chisholm now writes from Sydney: A similar report appeared an article in the Hmu for June 1961 (p. 94) by H. L. Bell of Sydney; he said that on several occasions examples of the introduced Spice Finch (Lon- chura punetulata) had been seen, in north Queensland, beside the bodies of toads and other small animals squashed flat on roads. In the Viet. Nat. paragraph several questions were asked, viz.: whether the finches were forced to the roads through shortage of seeds elsewhere, whether they were obtaining seeds from the fur of the dead animals, or 44 in each month for your nature whether, perhaps, they were using the fur as nesting material. Obviously, all of these points be- came negatived on reference to Major Bell’s report (which mentioned dead toads among the “attractions”); nor did a suggestion he made, that the birds might be “investigating insects” on the bodies, seem to me to present the correct explanation. Accordingly, I made inquiry on the subject, and now I am informed that the finches have, in fact, become addicted to meals of flesh—not in its tough state (which they could not cope with) but as “meat-mash”. John Orrell, of Cairns, tells me that he has watched the process closely during several years. Soon after a road-death occurs—be it that of a bandicoot, a bird, a toad, or any other creature—hawks arrive on the scene, and, later, as the bodies are flattened and dehydrated by num- bers of cars, finches congregate and feast on the dried, protein-rich mace- ration spread on the hot road, Mr. Orrell adds that on one morn- ing, recently, a small wallaby killed on a road was given prompt attention by hawks and crows; then, as other cars passed, the body became smeared Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 on the bitumen, and at 2.30 pm, a fiock of finches took -over and were distiretly seen eating the dried flesh. Another correspondent, Mr, J. A. Bravery of Atherton, tells me that, on the Tabléland, he has cecasionally seen finches feeding beside dead bodies, apparently on powdered bone and crushed fiesh, and he adds that his grand-daughter gives laying mash (which includes meat-meal) to Red- browed Finches, which eat it with telish, ’ On the whole, this esting of “meat- mash" on roads by tropical finches— one of several add food-variants re- ported of certain birds in recent years —rmay be regarded as a véry singular. deyelopment; and not the least in- triguing aspect of it is contained in the qnestion, How did these finches first. discover that bodies lying on bitumen. roads could be, when thoroughly pulped, a source of “new” ané Very good lucker? Short-nosed Bandicoot Here is a record, with some comments, of one of the fairly common apnimesls of southern Victoria, The data has been sent by Mrs. Elles Lyndon of Leon- gatha. There are many road casualties amongst the nocturnal animal life, and anything bearing fur that is not obviously eat or rabbit is always worth further examination. We stopped to pick op a smal! animal on the South - Gippsland Highway opposite Tarwin Station, where scrub still borders the road. It was.a specimen of the Short- nosed Bandicoot (Jsoodon ohesudusi, somewhat knocked about. As we were on our way to join a party of field naturalists trom the Latrobe Valley we tock it along. It was 4 powerfully built animal for its size with harsh, almost prickly, for. The short and strang.front legs ended in three only very efficient-looking digging toes, each bearing a curved shining nail. It could be equally. well called the Short-eavéed Bandicoot, as it was by his feature we were able to identify June 1962 The name “short-nosed” is misleading, for the species has quite a long pointed snoul. The tern is used comparatively, how- ever, and this” bandieoot cer- tainly has not the extremely long tapered snout of the Long- nosed Bandicoot;“A picture of the fatter appeared on the cover of last month's Netwralist. In Tasmania, isoodon abesulus 1s known officially as the Brown Bandicoot, a name which could well be adopted in mainland states as well, Diet of Giant Slings Referring to Mrs. EB. Bennett's nature note, repurted on page 309 of the Netwi'alist of Feb- ruary this year, that the giant slug does not eat live plants and that it likes milk, Mr. T. J. C, Rogers of Ringwood has written these comments: At various times in the past seven years I have found giant slugs about iny home, Sometimes they were near the cat's milk tin. Up to date L hava had no hesitation in putting my foot on them, However, the last one, seen Jast night, reesived some milk and was allowed to return to its home, while I made farther inquiries as ta what it is and what it eats. T am hoping you may-be able to shed some light on this topic. ; Miss Hope McPherson says that these slugs will eat green plants, though they probably prefer decaying vegetable mat- érial and animal matter, Mr. A. N. Burns of the Naticenal Museum has intimated that leaves of a potted orchid had been attacked, and that two giant slugs were found under the con- tainer when he madeé a search for the culprits. The species is introduced, and its name is Linutz inaxima. a6 Field Naturalists Club of Victoria General Meeting—May 4, 1992 About one hundred members and friends attended, and Mr, DD. E. McInnes, the chairman, welcomed Mr. and Mrs Sloane and their son from the Ballarat clab. Mr. H. Stewart said that Mr. Sloane was a nephew of My, T. Sloane, one of the founda- tiun members of the P.N.C.V in 1890, and an kenorary life member after 1923. ‘The latter was author of many scientific papers on etttonilogy, and his collection is in the possession ef the OS.1.R.0. in Ganherra. The suggestion of a natural history medal- lion came from a reviewer of the ¢lassi¢ nature of Mv Sleane’s work in entomology, oo A letter from Mz H, B. Dickins, who wall be ninety years ald this year, offered his yegrettul resienation from leadership of the Hawthorn Junjor Club after eighteen years association with it The F.N.C.V_ secretary will write a letter of appreciation ta Mr- Dickins, who was also responsible tor the suggestion of the correa as the olab embleni. A letter was read from Mr, A. B-. Court thanking the club for ita help with the Moomba nature show. Dr. M. dq, Littlejohn, of the Di\iver- sity Zoology Schuel, gave a most in- fannative and entertaining illustrated lecture on “Australian Frog Songs’. The mectimnism of their sound pro- duction and the simple receptors were clearly explained. Of three types of Sound produced—mating calls, release and distress ealls—the mating calle were recorded on tape, and these have been replayed to @et visible patterns by means of a sound spectrograph or sonograph and by 3 eathode ray oscil- lascope, which showed duration, pitch, niwber of notes and rate. Slides of the patterns were shown, 4s well as excellent ealour pictures of various frogs and, toads, accompanied by Te- corded sounds which help to dis- linguish speciax responsive only to specifie sounds. Hybrids, arising where species are not isclated, showed mix- ing of sound patterns in some cases. Information from these studies is sought te reveal something af how differences arise in evolution, Dy, Littlejohn was thanked by Messrs, A, 46 Fairhall and J, Strong for s unique and, very much enjoyable lecture which combined stern science with diverting entertainment. Dr Chattaway showed slides iustrating regrowth alter Lie fires in the Dandenongs, relating the se (ience of epicormic growth it) Grey Gum (8, goniveulye), Peppermint (2, rodiata) and Messmate (B. abiiqua’ to the probable influetice of thickness of bark and the absence of inhibitors coming down front the leaves. Mr. J, R. Garnet exhibited a fruit. ing body of Stone Fungus (Paly- porus baailapilvides) from Wyperfetd National Park, of which the myceliam ramifies between 30j] particles and cements them ijnta a mass as hard as , SAandatone. Mv... P. Curlis showed small frash- water snails Prom Apollo Bay, and a Parasitic isopod or “fish-loyse' fre- quently found astride the tongue af a trevally, Nine new mémbers, whose nomins- tions appeared in the May Naturatist, were elected, Geology Graup—May 2, 1962 Twenty members were present, with Mt. L. Angior in the chair. The sec- retery paid a tribete to the late Mr, Paul Fisch, a prominent member of the group. Mr. BH. Davidson gave a report on the excursion to Point Lea on April 22, to collect “zircons and sapphires from the heavy sands of the bench area. Examples of small alrcons and sapphires, with ilmenite and magnetite, were exhibited fram the saine area. A group syllabus was arranged for the next six months, Mr. D, McInnes outlined plans to continue the work of the Hawthorn Junior Field Naturalists Club, so ably con- aycted by Mr. Fisch for many years. An excursion to the Geology School, Melbourne University, to be conducted by the librarian, Mrs. Matthai, was arranged for Tuesday, May 22, at 3 pam, Members were also nrged ta attend the club's exeursian to King- lake West quarry on May 20, to collect trilobites, The subject for the evening was a syriposiuin on fossils and general gedezy, Mr. R. Davidson gave an Viet Not.—Val. 75 outling of the fossil localities around Melhourne and explained the value of Fossils towards datine the age of beds and solving problems connected with évolution, The areas mentioned tn- cluded Studley Park [Silirian: grap- tolites), MelIlroy’s Quarry on Morn- uigton Peninsula (Ordivician),! Beau- maris (Tertiary; marine fossils}, Brown Ooal Mine at Altana (fossil wood), and Royal Park (marine fos- sils), The ¢peaker illustrated his talk with a comprehensive array of fossils from the different localities. Bziibits. Minerals fron basle rocks {felspars, mica, quartz), and from meéetamorphi¢ rocks (gamiets, forms of hornblende, beryl, pegmatites, andr- thoclase, tournaline and woolastanite —A Gobbett; diabuse from Ceres- L. Angier; fragment af avatralite, quarts eryttals, specimens ranging fram slate to schist from contact zone of Ordivician sediments with granitic rock, pall from Beevhworth—D, FE, McInnes; and banded jasper, andalu- site, copper ore and tal¢, all from Wester) Australia—L, Bairstow. Fauna Survey Group—May 3, 1962 About twenty were presant at the ni¢eting, and Mr. N, A. Wakefield pecupied the chair, Three toetbers of the Ballarat T.N\C. had travelled down for the occasion. Correspondence included letters from the Bendigo, Casterton and Benalla F.N.Gs, in answer to the £roup's circulay seeking information ~ about matimals of the yarious dis- tricts. A: lettar was received fram the Fisheries and Wildlife Department, indicating that the Leadbeater Pos- sum habitat was being investigated with a view ta preserving roadside vegetation In it. Mr, J. MeCallun), reported on the excursion during Easter to the Part- land area, when several specimens of Apteshinus were secured for study purposes. Mv, Wakefield referred to 2 report from Mr. J, Edge of Allans- ford, of the capture of a fruit-bat (Pteropus poliocephalus) near Warr- nambeol. Detaila were discussed of s recent ant made to the F N.C_V, from the . A, Iogram Trust, much of which wat for fauna group equipment and working expenses, and figures were Riven of amounts now in hand for various purposes_ June 1962 At the contusion of the meeting, some time waz spent examining ani- taals jin the Department’s wildlife research laboratory, Members should note thal the nexs zroup meeting will be held on the second 'Tharsday of the month (June 14), instead of the firsl Thursday. Microscopical Group—Marel 21, 1962 Sixteen anembers attended the meet- jug, Which was chaired by Mr. E, LeMaiztre. The guest speaker, Dr. J. Gulase- kharam, explaimed that all of the basic work jn bacteriology van be done with a good microscope, ail im- mersion lets, soje sort of gas flame, a platinam loop and an incubator. But. he warned that the awieroseupical examination of specimens was only ‘one step in the lengthy laboratory testis uecessary for the diagnosis of a particular case, The spesker ex- plained how necessary it was for accivate diagnoses of certain out- breaks of diseases, as the identifiea- tion night involye internatiana] re- perenssions, leading to the isalation of certain communities and the closing of ports, He than described the yarious shapes and distinguishing features of bacteria, as well as how they are gvown and plated. As all Dr. Golasekharam’s slides heeded very high power, members found it pecessary to use their oil tmmeraion lenses. This necessitated more than usual caution than when lower powers are used, but fortunately there were no mishaps Specimens shown were: Smear of Gorococnis, Proteus bacillus, Tubercalesis smear, Diphtheria bacillns smear, and Guie- consue pus cells, Also, 4 very goud display of 4 may-fly larva covered with vorticella was shown ander Mr. E. Snell's binoculuy micrescope, Affiliated Clubs Wimmera FLN.C—This clab is going strongly, Jk meets of Kista on the third Thursday in every month, and this year has held excursions to such pines as Lake Albaeutya, Mount Avapiles, and the Naracoorte Caves in South Australia, Mr. W. Middleton of Wail oy peristent aod Miss 4, M- Jordan of Kiata 1 secretary. Geelong F.N.C.—The first annual report af this club gives details of 47 whut lt modestly describes az a year of amazing and unprecedented suc- cass, In one year the club has enrolled over 130 members, most of whom attend meetings and excursions regu- Jarly, and has held a meeting and an excursion each month, The only set- back reposted js the failure of the schools of the district to respond to an offer of co-operation, Club meet- ings are held on the first Tueeday of the month, Miss V. Boardman is sec- retary, and with her report she for- wards her eclub’s syllabus for the ' goming year. | Larne League of Bush Lovers—Al- though this club meets regularly fram March lo November, its members are mostly suminer visitors from Mel- -houyne, Colac and other districts. It finds that it must conoentrate its efforts on tree protection and tree planting, with the support of local orpanizations such as the Winchelsea Shire Council and the State School. Miss O. L Armvtage ls president, Mr. J. S. Hayes, secretary-treasurer, and the League is fortunate in retaining Mr. H. Stribling as patron- Sunraysia FLW.G.—'This club con, tinues to fourlsh, with over seventy members, The retiving president, Mr- Phillivs, veports a year of activity, much of it relating to the protection of local native plant reserves and to the Hattah National Park. Mr. J. Caldwell is the incoming president, whole Miss Mary J, Chandler con- tinues as secretary, ‘ RIGHTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT, 1961-82 The year has been one of steady progress, which we hope and expect wil} continue into the future Skowsa: Last September we once again held s most succeesful nature show in the Lower Mejbourme Town Hall Attendance and takings were most satisfactory. We had asked the Thera Trust to bear some of the expenses and it had agreed, but re- sults were so good that we withdrew all of this request, except so much as telated to the publication of a pam- phiet in Eaeglish, German and Ttalian, advocating protection for the Lowan. It was felt that this lad very little to do with the show, The Ingram Trust agreed, and paid the expense of pre- paring, pritting and circulating this parphict. This show was conducted in conjunction with the Suctety for Growing Australian Plants, and in recognition of theit friendly co- operation and the great value of their display, they were allotted £100 from the proceeds, They will co-operate again in the coming year. We also took part in the Moomba Nature Show, last March, our exhibit concentrating on the Benumaris ares. This show was spread over two weeks, and our delegates have been instructed be, object to such # Jone drawn-out air, Mombership: « This continues to grow sleadily, and with it the ciren- 46 Jation of the Naturalist. Durlng the yaar ordinary metnbership inpreased from 412 to 471, Country from 248 to 306, Juniors from 99 to 48, while there are 26 honorary life members. Taking wito account subscriptions and exchanges (including a niimber sent toa learned societies overseas at the request of the Herbarium authorities) about 1000 copies are mailed eath month; 1250 copies are printed, some being sold through booksellers, and the balance kept as a vaserve for the future. = + During the year, Miss M, L, Wigan, a member since 1926, was elected an honorary member, in recognition of her long and enthusiastic service to the club, We are sorry to have to report the death during the year of Mr. Paul Fisch who, besides being an enthusias- tie grower of natlye planta, was sec- retary of the Hawthorn Junior Field Naturalists Club, a position. which will be very Irard to fill, We alsa lost Miss G. Neighbour, Mr. Henry Best and others, - For years we haye talked of pub- lishing & membership list. At last, due mainly to the enthusiastic efforts of Mx. and Mes. F, Cartis and of Mr. Ti. Allan, what we hope is a complete Jist_ of members and individual sub- atribera, avd a partial list of insti- tutlonal subscribers was compiled as at Tannary 1. 1962. It was decided Viet, Not—vVol, 79 nol to print this list as a supplement to the Noturalfst, as had been our first intention, but to roles it, Thies has been done. Copies have been sent to office-bearers and affiliated clubs, and additional copies are available for S/- each. The Vietorian Notwrulist: This is our princips! service to the great bulk of our members, and by it we are judged, We feel that it has con- tinued to maintain a high standard, and has ably fulfilled jts dual role as a magazine to interest nature lovers generally, and a vehicle for serious atti¢les of scientific importance. We must thank the editor and the authors af the variaus articles for an interest- ing volume. Special mention pray be made of anthropological articles by A. Mazsola and S. R. Mitcheil, I. M- Watson on tongue-orchids and jchnet- monids, the series by J. Béchervaise on Antarctica, K, C. Halafaff’s eon- uding articles on the lyrebird's song, E. Bird on land changes, D. Fleay, on animals he has kept in captivity, Miss Galbraith’s series on the acacias, and the articles and notes by membera of the Fauna Survey Group. Affiliated Bodies: As mentioned in last year’s renort, the newlytomned Geelong Field Naturalists Club ap- plied for affiliutian last yesr, the appropriale resolution beilie carried Bt the alinval meetmg in Jone 1961. This club is making great progress, membership at the conclusion of its first year of existence being 120 persons, This left only one substantial area of Victoria-—the north-east—in which there was no naturalists club, and we were very lenses to hear of the for _ mation and t) receive an application for affiliation from the Benalla Field Naturaliste Club. This Imeans that there are how 23 country cluhs aff. Hated with the F.N.C.V. Another in- teresting move is the organization of the affiliated Gippsland Field Natural- ists Clubs, a federation af the Bairns- dale, Latrobe Valley and Warragul Clubs for mutual support and en- conragement. An outstanding feature has been the regulay attendance of country members ab excur'stans, especigliv those of longer-duration. Thus e¢ the Portland excursion, led by members June 1962 ‘ ef the Portland club, there were present representatives of the South Australian Naturalists Society, and of the Ballarat and Franketan Clubs. At Beechworth, besides members of the Benalla Club, we saw represen- tatives of the Ballarat club, and mem- bers of the F.N.C.V. from Tatura: and at Wilson's Promontory other Incal members, welcomed and helped the party. The only disappointment has been the “clubs' get-together”, We kave held this rerularly for the last three years ajid fee] it is a good idea, but attendances of country members have been disappointing. In the past, it has always been held on the last week-end of the Royal Melbourne Show, but we fear that this may be a bad time of year for most country members, and so this year it will be held on the week- end of October 20-21. We hope this will be more convenient. Parks and Reserves: During the year we have given our moral support to the project to set aside forest country at Labertouche—to protect the stands of Pink Boronia, Scarlet Grevillia, and Tetrothecu stestocarpa there, and to the movement te buy the Cuthbertson block at Ovean Grove, which ts the tast block af virgin land on the Rellarine Peninsula. The Landscape Preservation Coun- ei] of the National Trust, with which we are affiliated, is collecting lists of what have been called “Natural Monn- ments" and we are co-operating. In that connexion, we were very pleased to hear that the “Organ Pipes” at Sydenham had been presented ta the State, and we thanked the family of er late Mr, Green for this generous gift, We have also concerned ourselves with problems relating to existing parks, such as the proposed hotel at Wilson's Pramotitery, and the fire risk at Sherbrooke. Wildlife Protectiom Constant viel- lance is needed with regard to wildlife protection, We wark in friendship with the Native Plants Preservation Society, and during-the year were Pleased ta hear that steps were being taken to Yconatitute the Mauna Pro- tection Council We have also sug- geste ta the authorities that it is 49 Unnecessary to list the Wombat as - Vermin, Speakers: Onoe again -we must thank those who have instructed and entertained ys during the year, @5- pecially R, T. M, Pexcott, who spoke on “The Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens", G. Baker ("Australites"), k. Galding (“Australian Bird Songs’) and L. W. Thompson (‘“Heney Bees”), An interesting experiment was the illustrated discussion by three meni- bers of the eluh excursions to Yarram and Portland respectively. These twa evenings were most succeseful, and this technique will doubtless be re- peated jn the future. Finanve> As the trensurer will re- tt, expenses are rlalne steadity, ortunately membership fees (in- cluding the supporting membership) are rising alse, and ut approximately the same rate, so that we will "break even or have « small excess of re+ ceipts pyer expenditure. Recurtloms> Excursions bave been weil patronized. ,This Year, general excursions have been held on the third Bunday of each month and, in ad- dition there have been several ex- tended excursions as well as those organized by the groups. Tha major excursion was to Port- land from December 26 to January 1, This was led by members of the Part- tand club and places visited included Bat Ridges, Mt. Clay, Bridgewater Lakes, Mt. Gambier and the Glenelg River. On December 27 the visitors were officially welcomed by the Mayor and (he Portland vluh and shown splendid slides of the district and its natural bistury. Over slxty members attended this excursion, Tn October, a week was spent at Wilson's Promontary and meiibers were delighted to renew acquaintanve With Messrs, Rossiter and Greenaway who led the Yarram excursion last year. There was afl excursion +o Beechworth al Easter, which was led ty Mrs. FP. Gladstone, a local member. _ Mrs. Gladstone took the party to Mt. Pilot and showed them a cave with aboriginal drawings, to Mt. Stanley, Waolshed Creek and Pells and of 4 tour round the district as far as Chiltern and Myrtieford. Agates were found at the Woolshed Creek and Mrs. 5a D, Metnnes gave a successful demons stration. of gold paonine: Country members were welcorned at the combined week-end excursion made to Ricketts Point, to the building stones of the city, Maranoa Gardens and the Dandenongs, Part of the Saturday aftetroch progYamme was televised, Day excursions were popular and these also enabled us to meet country clubs 45, for instance, when the Warragul clob led Lhe Labertouche exeyrsion And the Geelong club one te Torguay. - Botany: This group has had another successful year, attendance ab moet- ings is increasing and ifterest 1s held by the Jeetuves which have been very ably atvanged by Miss M. Lester, the programme orfgasizer, Among the subjects chosen were “Liverworts and Mosses" by G. Thontson, “Ferns and Clubmesses” bY Mis, ©, Webb-Ware, "Cyeads and Conifers” by Miss L, White, “Flowering Plants” by G, Thomson, “Orchids” by W. L. Wil- liams, “West Australian Plants” by J. M. Wilson, 'The Vascular System” by Dr. M, Blackwood, and there were several] members’ nights, A nuinber of excursions were held, led by the lecturer, the subjects usually chosen te combine with the lectures. One week-end Sxeursion was held when Mr, and Mrs. K. Cheslin invited mem- bers tp make their headquarters at their week-end cottage at Anglesea, This offer was gratefully accepted and me@mbets wera shown the floral highlights of the district by their host and hoytess. The group Jost its chairman when Mr. F, Zirkler and his wife left for a ivip overseas, but looks forward to their return in November. Mr. J- Baines has accepted the position and the group continues to progress. Mirtoseopical Group: The year has bean a very interesting one, Lectures have been given by five outside speakers ahd three members of the group. The remainder Wf the meetings were taken up by “open nights'” at which members exhibited their own slides and spectmena. This latter type of evening always proved successful and gave every member the appor- tunity to diseuss their own particular branch of microscopy. Lectures by outside speakers were Viet Net—Vol. 79 oh such subjects as the microscopic study of bodies obtained after the tYaatment éf the cores from deep drilling bores, the study of the fossil remsins and intpressions of plants, the study of fungi and the use of the microscope in & diagnostic laboratory- Subjects discussed by group mém- bers included photo-olicregraphy and desmids. Early in the year Mr, D, Melanes, who had been the leader of the group for many years, resigned, and Mrs- G. Middleton was elected to fill the position, but unfortunately she had to resi again) some months later because she and her family_were moving to Lard Howe fsland. Fortu- nately for the group, at this jupetore, Mr. LeMaistre returned from Singapore after muhy years residence there. Mr. E. LeMaistre fas heen an active member in the Microscopical BSoaciety and slso held the position of chairman in the very early days of the group’s formation as a part of FIN.C.V-; consequently he was elected ahd feturned to his original position in the chaw, Shortly before the de- farhiure of Mr. and Mrs. Midleton, a pienic was held at Heaney Park which was in the nature of a final pet-tovether with “Charles” Middle- ton who has been an itreplaceable help to all Melbourne microscopists, The highbght of the day was a presen- tation to Mr. Middleton of a hook signed by el] members of the group An exhibition of microscopes held during “country menibers week-end” arcueed un great deal of interest; and this may became a regular feature. Following an invitation Mr. W. Byans went to Colae and gave a talk and temoustration to the local elvb. This Was most enthistastically re- ceived, and un article written in a Colac newspaper represented one of the fow times microscopy has beconse an impertant news item. Attendances af nianthly meetings thraughout the year, though aot great, on the whole were vonsistent and very gratifying. Marine Binlogy and Entomology: Regular monthly meetings have been held by this group throughout the year, with an average attendanee of 16 members, An endexvour fas been prade in (he dune 1962 the finty ucid-resisting - past year to obtain speakers who are specialists in their own branch of natural history. This endeavour has raet with some success, We haye al- veady listened with great mterest to Mr, H. B, Wilson, Chief Entomologist of the Plant Research Laboratory. Burnley Hortleultural Gardens, who apoke on the Sirax wood wasp and cicadas, and we have alead of us Miss Hope McPherson, Curator of Molluses, National Museu, and Mr. CG. J, Irvine, Chief Entomologist, Forests Cammmission, both te give a lecture this year. Members continue to bring many marine and entomelogical specimens for identification and diseussion, and there are usually thres o¥ four jicro- acopes est up for use with minute specimens, The group is looking forward to another interesting and instructive year. Fsatna Survey Group: This group continues to gather information ol the synammals of the state, and again the year's work has been catried out in close Haison with the Pisheries and Wildlife Department, The MM, A, Ingram Trust bas given further finan- éia| assistance, meets costs of some equipment, certain working expenses, and cost of illustrations in tonnexiot With articles on mainmale tn the Victorian Naturatist A bat-banding prograinnie is under way, and the survey of the Heales- ville-Warburton area is continuing, The study of the state's spécics of Auteckinus has developed inly a major tesearch preject, Wecessitating satten- tion to interstate aiid overseas museum collections and te papulations of the animals to other states, , tn the Neturatier duying ‘the past year, o paper has been pablished on the rediscovery of Leadbeater’s Pos- sui, and a seties of artieles has appeared dealing with phalangers und phascogales uear Betialla in north- eastern Victoria, Tn November last, the group was asked ta contribute to the antiual soirée of the Royal Society of Vio- forts by sereening Mr. Ernest H, Brownlie, Cann River, via Orbost (N. A. Wakefield/E, H. Cenhill). Mr. Henry J. Eekert, Langhorne’s Creek, South Australia (8, H. Coghill/J. I. Hudson) . Tt, Re CG. Jepheott, l4 Leura Street, Surrey Hills (J. M, Woollamt/J, A. oollard) , Mr. Robert. James Tonsen, 6 Perk Street, Wallsend, NUS.W. (EB. 1 Coghill) J. R. Hutson). Junior Membera> William i McCarthy, 12 Sheffield Street, South Caulfield (M. Allender/E. HA. Courhill) . - Rober, H. Pheeney; Mallacoota (G. H. Tavlor/R, G. Taylor}: Frederick J. Rossignoli, 5 Arama Street, Nurth Balwyn (J. Wallis/d, Wombey), 4, Nominations for Membership. 5. General Business. 6 Nature Notes and Exhibits. 7. Conversazione. Monday, August 13, 1962—“Maria Island”, by N, A.. Wakefield. (Note: There will be an extraordinary genera) meeting, at 7.65 pam, on August 13, to consider the application by the Ringwood Field Naturalists Club for affiliation with the F.N,C.V.} F.NC.V. EXCURSIONS Sunday, July 15—Healesville Sanctuary. The coach will leave Batman Avenne at 10 a.m, Bookings with the excursion secretary. Fare, 13/-. Bring two nieals. GROUP MEETINGS, ETC, (2 p.m. at National Herbarium unless otherwise stated,} Thursday, July 12—Botany Group, “Myrtaceae”, by Mr. M. K. Houghton. Wednesday, July 18—Microscopical Group. “The Draw of the Threads", by Mr, R, Hudson of the Animal Health Research Section, 0.8.1-R-0- Friday, July 27—Hawthorn Junlor Club (meets in Hawthorn Town Hall at 8 pm.). “The Honey Eaters”, by Mrs. Kath Hough. Colour slides, birds, nests, Wednesday, August 1—Geology Group. “Southern Tablelands of New South ron (illustrated), by Miss P. Carolan. (Meeting to commence at 7.45 p.m. Thursday, August 2—Fauna Survey Group. General Business: (Meeting to be at Fisheries and Wildlife Department, commencing 7.80 p,m.) (Note: There will be no meeting in August of the Entomology and Marine Biology Group-) 86 Viet. Nor—Vol. 79 The Victorian Naturalist Vol. 79 (4) August, 1962 Published by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria In which is incorporated the Microscopical Society of Victoria Registered at the General Post Office, Melbourne, for transmission by post as a periodical 2/6 94 Its Nature Show Time Again! On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, September 10, 11 and 12, the Lower Melbourne Town Hall will once again be the scene of many interesting and varied exhibits of natural history, and a display of wonderful wildflowers. The Society for Growing Australian Plants is again co- operating with the F.N.C.V. and will present another magnificent show of garden-grown wildflowers and shrubs from all over Australia; this promises to be even better than last year’s effort, if that is possible. The main display by the F.N.C.V. will be an extensive scene depicting “Birds of the Swamps”, with emphasis on the preservation of these birds; and the printed leaflet will deal with this aspect. Living exhibits will include snakes and lizards as well as spiders. The geology exhibit will feature fossils from within a hundred miles of Melbourne and the origins of lava flows near Melbourne. The botany group is staging a colourful exhibit featuring the floral emblems of all states. The Hawthorn Junior Club will show how to polish ordinary pebbles and will exhibit some of the very attrac- tive finished specimens. The marine biology exhibit will illustrate tidal zones, and other marine displays will include live coral — not from the Barrier Reef but Port Phillip Bay. There will also be an interesting entomological exhibit, A special feature will be FREE showings of some splendid nature films at frequent intervals throughout the show. Frog song recordings by Dr. M. J. Littlejohn will be played. The show will be opened officially on Monday, September 10, at 2 p.m. Members of the show committee have done much work in the designing of the show but they cannot look after it by themselves —they need help. Club members will be asked at the August meeting to fill in forms indicating when they will be able to help with the setting up and supervision of the exhibition. The success of the show will depend to a large extent on the co-operation of club members in providing a team of helpers. Members are also asked to publicize the show as widely as they can, and so help to assure that the greatest number of persons, both adults and children, come to it and learn something of the wonders of our Australian bushland and its unique inhabitants. Vict. Nat.—Vol 79 Vol. 79 No. 4 August 9, 1962 The Victorian Naturalist Editor: NORMAN WAKEFIELD, B.Sc. CONTENTS Page Articles: Portland Excursion, ‘Christmas 1961, by M. J. Lester .. 4 .- 1038 Two Aboriginal Legends of the Ballarat District, by A. Massola .. 110 New Butterfly Records for Victoria, by A. N. Burns .. es .. 118 Features: Antarctic Wildlife: In the Bleak Mid-winter, by John Béchervaise .. 96 Along the By-ways with the Editor: Grasshoppers of the Mountains, Possums as Tightrope Walkers ae ote 3 te -. 108 Field Naturalist Club of Victoria: July General Meeting, Group Meetings, etc. . te “'y me .. 115 Miscellaneous : It’s Nature Show Time Again! ., c at a5 je as .. 94 Letter to Editor: An Appreciation re of at ey 40 .. 107 Front Cover: The Leopard Seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) is normally an antarctic and subantarctic animal, but occasionally one visits Australian waters. This speci- men was photographed by John Béchervaise, on the beach at Barwon Heads, Victoria, in October 1938. August | 962 95 Antarctic Wildlite—7 In the Bleak Mid-winter Heard Island, Monday, May 18, 1938 It was discovered today that the last of the three Light- mantled Sooty Albatross chicks on Mount Andrée had taken flight. The nest was buried in snow. There is a poem in which the image of a bird's nest filled with snow symbolizes derelic- tion and sadness; here, it just means that the last of last sum- mer's fledglings has given up its place to the elements. Only temporarily will the ancestral rock-ledge be unoecupied; in six months the pedestalled nest of hard mud and guano will pro- bably hold another egg. When we first arrived, the chicks, both on Mount Andrée and amongst the azgorella of the Laurens Peninsula, were fluffed out with silver down, The changeover of A.N.A.R. Expedition’ men al- ways takes place in the midst of the albatrosses* summer family season so that no one observer, unless he spends two years on the island, may have the chance to follow through the whole sequence. Thursday, June 25 The magic of a calm moonlit night on Heard Island is hard to describe; Big Ben is a glorious dome of silver scalloped hy in- tensely black ravines’ three thousand feet long. There is nothing hidden, yet a mysterious unreality strikes the senses. 96 by JOHN BECHERVAISE Snowy arétes many miles away dre clean-cut against the stars and the moonlight gathers al most blindingly wherever it may. Such nights seldom last until dawn, There were a hundred Leopard Seals gathered by moonlight round Corinthian Bay tonight, tnaking the object of a pleasant brief excursion over the dry, squeaking snow. It seems that the big grey Phocidae favour the midnight hours for hauling out of the water, for all the maxi- mum counts have been obtained at such times; the dusk census is generally unimpressive. Gwynn says that the beach population of Leopards will probably increase for another couple of months, but dwindle almost to nothing in the summer. At present Leopard Seal statis- tics are keeping him busy most nights." Friday, July 17 I made a sleety, pre-dawn trek to West Bay, to change magnetic traces; a featureless discomfort except for the sight of a much scarred Leopard, marked perhaps from a killer- whale attack; but, on the way back, there was exhilaration in the journey, The icy aqualls ceased and broken clouds re- 1. Two papers, ANARE Interim Reports, Nos. 3 and 16, Whe Sintue of the Leopard Seal at Heard Island and Maoquarie fatand, 1948-1940, by A, M, Gwynn, and The Leopard Seal a€ Heard Island, 1081-34, by KG. Brown, provide a great, denl of stutislica) und other information on Leopard Seals. Vict. Nat—Vol, 79 placed the gray pall. Flocks of Dominican Gulls (Larus domini- canus Lichtenstein) wheeled and cried overhead; unlike their re- lations, the great brown skuas, which almost entirely disappear from the island in mid-winter, the Dominicans are always about both by day and night. They have the true cry of the gulls, and this morning they flew me back to the Cornish cliffs. The Herring Gulls of Europe (Larus argentatus) possess a wild, exciting cry known to generations of men; it is answered here; never, to my disappointment, by the truer antipodeans, the Silver Gulls (L. novae-hollandiae). There are more birds winter- ing here, or at least still about, than I expected. Gentoo Pen- guins and Shags are fairly com- mon along Atlas Cove, especially in the early morning; there are still some Kerguelen Diving Petrels (Pelecanoides urinatrix exsul Salvin) about; I found one bewildered bird lost in the August 1962 The Dominican Gull (Larus domi- nicanus), an adult bird. On the extreme left is a profile view of the bill of a Sheath- bill (Chionis minor nasicornis) ANARE Photo: John slush and darkness—probably attracted by the station lights— about a fortnight ago (July 3). He was a beautiful trim little fellow with diamond eyes, fine black plumage and strange blue lees. The species is less common here than the South Georgian Diving Petrel (P. georgicus), but neither is frequently seen, as they fly to and from their underground burrows only under security of darkness. Then, last week (July 9), Dr. Gwynn noted some Antarctic Terns flying over South-West Bay. He des- cribed a young bird with mottled brown plumage and black bill being fed by a dove-grey adult with bright red bill and feet. There seem to be a number of puzzling features about’ the terns’ plumage; in winter most adult birds grow white caps, so that they look very like the Arc- tic Terns, that visit the island in summer. However, last week’s tern inconsiderately still kept his black cap. Réchervaise. ‘ ~~ 97 Only sometimes one realizes geographical position; this morning I was conscious that only Cape Horn could interrupt an endless voyage east or west round the globe. Whatever the time on Heard Island, the night lies always east or west over uninterrupted water. Ocean fogs obscure the island, and our great mountain ceases to exist ... I meandered home, finding beau- tifully wave-worn stones, ele- phants’ teeth and, right at the water’s edge, thousands of tiny globules, completely transparent like jellied rain-drops; __fish- spawn I think. A couple of Nellies ronectes giganteus) circled on large slender wings, sometimes sweeping close enough for me to hear and feel the parting air. Thursday, 23 July The night had built splendid drifts, ridges and cornices but- tressed against walls; and deep, rounded, wind-scooped trenches. Walls had been dappled and pat- terned by the blizzard while they were still warm enough to cause the ice to stick, Over the azorella and poa hummocks the snow rose in great waves . . Jack Hughes had to dig himself out from his cubicle adjoining the engine-room. Happiest of all were the huskies, never more at home than in fine, dry snow, Right through the camp lay the trail of a small elephant seal, a smooth shallow groove flanked by energetic flipper marks. We lost his track some- where up beyond the dogs, where the snow was bumpy. It is a very curious fact that young seals at this time of year occasionally migrate inland and reach as- 98 tonishing situations high above the sea. I have wondered whether it is some aberration associated with a _ yearling’s first return to land. Saturday, 25 July After breakfast I fought my way down through a furious gale to see the innumerable birds gathered at the carcass of the elephant seal on the beach. Evidently the hungry winter stalks the native birds as well as our alien dogs. The wind was in the sixties and seventies at times, tumbling the water over the beach and striping the shallows with dark frantic rifts through the spume. But the Giant Petrels were there in force, tearing at the entrails and preserving their balance by a curiously awkward- looking combined movement of wings and webbed feet. Their heads completely painted with blood, they were dark, deter- mined harriers, yet staggering uncertainly and curiously en- visioning pterodactyls. The Dominican Gulls, much more fastidious, were also present in great numbers, screaming as the wind tore them from their repast, and as they fought against it to recover a footing. But, most numerous, were the lovely checkered Cape Pigeons, their speckled wings seeming part of the wind-driven spray. They rested on the waves, find- ing storm-torn fragments and morsals dropped from the in- discriminating bills of the larger petrels; or flickered in the air, wings moving mightily, making no headway against the force of the gale. The scene was utterly bleak and memorable— to surge the spirit and torment Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 the limbs. Like gravel the wind- shot spray struck my face. and drenched my clothing... After’ tea at 4,30, I made an hour's leisure and companioned - Fred to the crater near Rogers Head.’ We. stumbled through the snow ‘to the little frozen lake below the’ station, exulting in our power to parry the wind. The -black ‘lava’ cliffs’ were drenched with spray and snow- ‘free for several yards from the ~~ brink. We pressed round them. ’ for half-a-mile-or ‘more while the sea quarrelled below and the dusk fell wently until the rocks- and snow. were jet and deepen- 1 ing grey. The waves crashed in, each crest streaming behind in cold, grey rain. After a while-we broke away from the cliffs and ploughed, through soft snow towards the broken crater, Right - up there we found the-tracks of small seals, hopelessly jost, it’ seemed, and apparently trying in vain to reach the gea, Time August 1962- Juvenal Detnint- ean Gull (Larne dominicnnns) , abighting; with ) Sheathbilta. ANARE Photo: daha. Richarnaian, ‘ , and time again they had turned to the cliffs, but they had always’ _ retreated and made their way higher and higher. Most must eventually work their way round the abrupt edges to Carinthian Bay, but others must surely be-: come stranded \and ‘die in the’ snow or-upon the tortuous rope lava, vas hard and brittle 38 glags Sunday, 26 uly : Dick joined Leon in'a distant sledging foray’ on the sparse elephant seal population. All right-thinking elephants are now, in their ocean wallows, the “cows seeking to nourish them- selves against the days of thetr accouchement in the spring, Now only individuals, . stray. misogynists and lazy. trallops, and a few: restless youngsters, » 12, In ‘a later account I shall hope to men- | tion the inland wandering of seals in. the Vest- fold Hills, on, thé edge of the Antarctic Cons tinent, and upor the antarctic plateau where the evidence of fatal excursions of mapy miles, sometimes to elevations of Wiorawnnta of feet, ‘ is ‘discovered. —J,M.B » | 99° haul cut on the beaches, Mostly the strands are rented by the Leopards, grey, angular and surly, who, on, being disturbed, raise their heads in anger, bar- ing their serrated teeth and, with scarcely a sound, lope into the surf where, but for the terrible killer whales, they are Thasters of all When the Rawin ‘flight was over, Peter Shaw and I packed a few essentials’ and slogged away from camp wilb no firmly. set objective but to stay away until dark. However, Peter (and Fred Elliott) will accompany me on the planoed major reeon- haissance of the mountain. as aoon as the days: are a little longer, and, in preparation, we have been making s number of gtacier trips lately. The station and all our little balanced world soon disappeared in the murk, and we were two puny creatures on’ the wide frozen plain, A diffused cloud ‘base pressed down on the lighter mist from about a thousand feet. It erased the mountsin above the faint Baudissen Glacier and gave # high imaginary extension to the ice-clad cliffs across: Whe waters of Atlas Cave.. We explored the plateau ex- tension that runs north-west from Drygalski . . . and dis- covered a cairn atop a large triangular rock at the base of: the little mountain's main north- ern ridge. To an old sand- and blizzard-blasted wooden pole had been nailed, at some time, an iron canister, This had dis- { Meaders wl ara iytepested ba wher Hsweets wf Heard Island msy care te conault the furthcoming Aynual~ (1862) Of the Fell - ahd Rock Climbing Cla (Great~ Uritein), which will publish a Jongtiy, Musteated article on Big Ben, ‘Che original Log for porn te- rords nst uspeets | heuted: In the Gir-conditioned vegetable store | at Mawson, potatoe flies wera common while ktores WI fresh vegetables lasted, ‘ August } 962 In the blenk mid- winter, Heard tsland The North- West. Qarnive, o peok ridge leading un lo Big Ben's abrupt ice-cllifs, shows it a the mist. The cun- spionous bhrd ia ao Giant Petrel,, As aledet find dog- teal. dviven by | Ton tux, are crossitz the bot- tam left hand tov- nev of the scene, ANALE. Photo: fol Mehernatac. As -we progréssed up the valley, immense snow drifts hindered us until we were ‘sink- ing thigh-deep at every step. We followed the lateral moraine and were soon over fathomless ice, but there was no sign of the iglod. It was utterly buried; not even a faint hump showed its whereabouts, Wednesday, 5 August While I was writing this even- ing, Arthur came in, quite pleased with his discoveries on the beach. He had a collection of minute transparent shrimps 101; ‘ anil somé strange almost fish- like creatures which puzzled him completely, For my collee- tion, he'pr oduced a small, white sponge, After a while, browsing in the. literature praducéed results. "I wonder, John, whether it coukl be ‘Amphioxus! Listen! (reading from Parker.and Has- well} ‘Amphioxus has had a ~ chequered zoological, history. Its first discoverer placed it among the Gastropoda, consider- ing it to be’a slug. When its ver; : tebrate character was-made out, it was for a long’ time placed definitely among’ fishes, as the type of a distinct, order of that class; but, on further study, -it became obvious that an animal ‘ without skull, brain, heart, audi- tory organs, paired eyes, or true kidneys, und with colourless “or mammal , blood and a pharynx surrounded by an atrium, must be as widely separated from tthe lowest fish as_is the’ lowest fish from a bird | ”.T have since, © of course, looked over the refer- ence. The Ainphioxus described is from the English Channel, but it seems credible that an animal so primitive might have a. very wide distribution. I expect some of the earlier biologists here have already collected it. It was our doctor’s birth- day .:. . There came a point when time ceased to have any quality of duration, It was pro- ; posed that every: man’ give an. item. Most extraordinarily, everyone did. ‘Tales were told by ‘candlelight ; music came from piano and flute; and Leon sang. From Leg for Lorna, an illustrated diary addressed’ to the author's wife, 4 CALLING ALL Nature . Select your equipment fram WAGNER'S comprehensive stocks of Exakea, Leica,’ Pentax, Praktica, etc. also telephoto lenses, close ip attachments, electronic flash ain accessories. R. H. WAGNER & Sons Pty. Ltd. 43 Elizabeth Street trorner Flinders Lane) Telephone 62 3114 Also Chadstone Shopping Centre Viet, Nat—Yol, 79 ' Portland Excursion, Christmas 1961 On § perfect sittamer day, Tuesday, December 26, 1961, thirty-three -tTembers travelled in a McKenzie. tourist coach to Portland, via Geelong, Colac and Warrnambool. As _ they. crossed the basalt plains to- wards Colae, the stone fences and the fine Red Gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) pro- vided a characteristic aspect of the Western District. A stop was made for a picnic Juneh, overlooking a little lake in the scrubland of the Stony Rises, about ten miles west. of Colac, A Crimson Rosella was seen there, feeding its young at a& nesting hollow, in the brancth- of a tree. Spiny Spider's were 80 plentiful that many members had their own private specimens to watch. Some of these spiders were beaded with tiny white or green circles which, with the shiny black spines, gave them a remarkable gem-like appear- ance. Many of thos little crea- tures were, seen during’ the week. Several koalas were not- iced as the coach travelled through the Stony Risés. . As the day progressed. the weather became, warmer and groups-of cattle or sheep were seen sheltering in the planta- tions of Sugar’ Gums fringing the paddocks, So extensively has this tree been planted in Vic- toria that few people realize that- BLucalyptas eladocalyx' is . en- demic to South Australia. August 1962 By M. J. Lester From Warrngmbool'a visit was paid to Tower Hill. This is probably the loveliest, as well as the most interesting, ‘of the ~ many extinct voleanoes that are the source of the Western Dis- trict basalt plains and their con- sequent rura] wealth. The Fish- eries‘-and Wildlife Department has recently taken Tower -Hill over; perhaps it may be hoped that, more native plants will be seen there in the future -and fewer pine-trees and box-thorns which now form the dominant vegetation, The lake surround- ing the clustered islands of scoria cones is a resort of many water birds, and the bird en- thusiasts reported Black Duck, Swans, Coots, Pelicans and hun. dreds of Mountain Duck. It was a delight to see a little Striated Field-Wren atmong the shrubs on the crater rim where the party was standing. A section of this rim has been quarried and the cut ‘face shows clearly the horizontal layers of bedded tuffs—as if, at various times, the contents of a giant ash-can © had been spread out and care- fully levelled ‘of. Portland was reached soon after 5 p.m. Like so many of the Western District towns, Port- land: has. gone in for Norfolk Island Pjnes in a big way: they line many of the streets and are planted along thé harbour front. Aft first sight the harbour seemed to be a medley.of -moles and 103 piers, and it was some tite be-— fore one could sort them out. After mutual greetings, mem- bers of the Portland Field Naturalisis Club guided the visitnrs to the guest house. But Cliveden House could not accom- qmordate all} several members had rooms iN & nearby private house, joining the .main party for meals, In the evening ‘Mr, N. - Learmonth of the Portland elub outliged the plans. for the en- suing fiye days. : On Wednesday morning the eoach was boarded again and Mr. Learmonth im his var Jed the -way in a tour along the southern fringe of Portland Bay, A stnp was made on Bat- tery Point overlooking Lhe new pier-vum-breakwater: known ‘as the K. 8. Anderson Wharf. From the cliff face, which has been cut back to allow for the approach, this wharf extends far almost a mile, to the light tower at its northern end. “Six and a half million. pounds were spent in erecting the wharf, but it_ig estimated that one and a quarter willion pounds per an- nam will be drawn from petrol dues alone, with additional in- come from the greatly increased number of other vessels enter- ing tlie port since the completion of the harbour scheme, The route continued ‘south- ward to Black Nose Point and Point Danger, where the Port- land Harbour Trust, at the insti- gation of the Portland Field Nat- uralists Club, has fenced eight acres of heathlatid scrub for pre- servation of the native flora, ete. Appruaching this locality, many bushes were noticed of a laven- der-flowered Melaleuca; it was somewhat disapptinting to find 404 ‘ing spikes, that it was an Introduution from Western Australia — Melelewca nesophila, Other planta there were the grasatrees (both XYan- thorrioca “australis and xX. minor) with their upright fruit- many bushes of Txodia . Uiradia = avhslleaides)) eovered with. little white daisy- like flowers, the creamy-yellow blooms of the low-growing Mitehéll Wattle (Acacia gnitehellit) and Golden Wattle (A, pyenantha). - Wood Swallows, both the White-browed and the Dusky; owere. very ‘active above the serub of the reserve-and, less conspicuous, were Silver-eyes, Grey Fantails, Pipits and. the. Yellow-winged Honeyeater: . Darting. amonget ‘the tussocky grass near the cliff edge at Point Danger, gorgeous. blue-green dragonflies were the despair of photographers; bird observers were excited about the Reef Heron on the rocks 1mmediatelv below, and every pair of binoe- ulars was used to look at the gannets on the Lawrence Rocks —nbout a mile off Point Danver. The rocky islets are a, gannet rookery, ‘The party turned west to Cape Grant to see the quarry from which the filling rocks of the_K,.S, Anderson, Wharf have been taken, There was still an extensive stock-pile of rocks on ‘the landWard side of the im- mense -quarry hole,- and the geologists had 2 fine time exam- ining crystals and other oddities in the cut faces of these huge hasall boulders. In the afternoon the tcoach was taken to the farm of Mr, Davies, about six miles west.of Portland, and Mr. Cliff Beaugle- Vict Nat—Val, 79 hole led us through the bush to Bats Caves. We were delighted with the beautiful heads of Hyacinth Orchids. (Dipodium punctatum) and the bushes of” Flame Heath (Astvolaia con- ostephiodes) with their scarlet flowers. Attention was drawn to the Gippsland Mallee (Hucalyp- tus fitsoniana, which obviously , has no respect, for common names), and many limgered to watch some Red-browed Finches feeding young at the nest. But it was very hot, and some members turned back before reaching the caves. These less energetic ones lazed in the shade of three huge pines, were served biscuits and told water by the young members of the Bedggood family from Ballarat, examined Featherheads (Péilotus imuc- rvdceplula) and other flowers with their hand lenses, ‘or. watched the photographers as they tried to’ get'a baby brown frog and green tree frog to pose for them. The really energetic ones who lasted the whole two miles to the August 1962 Near the Blow-hotes, Cape, litidgewater, Phntes 8, BL Curtlon, caves reported that it was icy cold in the one they entered: the roof was about eight feet high and small stalactites were de- veloping from it but growing sideways. There were no bats, .- In, the evening, at a social in the hall of St, Stephen’s Church of England (the many reminders of the Henty family were in- spected In the interior of the - church) the visiting naturalists were officially welcomed to Port- land by the president of Port- land Field Naturalists Club. (Mr, B. E. Carthew) and by the Mayor of Portland (Cr. N. G, Nicol). The visitors totalled an impressive -number—46 of out members (thirteen of whom travelled otherwise fhan by the chartered coach),. two from Ballarat and their four children, two from Bendigo, two trom Hamilton and five from Adel- aide. Together with the Port- -land members, it was exciting to see so mdny people from so many areas, all with similar interests, ' 105 ' ‘ Mr. Carthew reported the achievements of the Portland club since its inception sixteen years ago. Portland had sponsor- ed the Warrnambool and Hampil- ton clubs, had taken a leading part in having Mount Richmond declared a national park and in ubtaming the reserves at Cape Nelson, The Nine Mile ‘and- the éight acres at Point Danger. Cluh members (mainly Mr, CG, Beauglehole) have listed in the area 750 flowering plants, in- - wluding 93 orchids (5 new to _ science), 49 ferns, 400 sea- weeds, 150 native bees (30 new to science), 70 ants, 320 shells (2 new to science), 301 birds (11 were first records for Vic- toria, 5 first and only Australian records), and they have found bones of some extinct animals. These achievements are truly re- “markable and evidence the pur- poseful enthusiasm and energy of the Portland members; At the sovtal were exhibits of fungi (including an exception- ally latré Stone-maker Fungus {(Polypurus' basziapiloides), pressed wild-flowers, ferns and Thosses and 4 collection of storm- killed sea birds. Excellent elides were shown of orchids, fungi and birds and of the local coastal acenery. The evening ended with a delicious supper, ~ On Thorsday Cape Brifdge- water was visited with Messrs. Learmonth and Beauglehole as guides. After clambering down the cliff to view the booming mist of The Blowholes, all drifted toward the socalled Petrified Forest. This consists of roundish columns of rock rang-- ing from six inches to 24 inches in diameter and extending from a few inches to ten or twelve 106 feet in height, jaggedly broken off at the top. These colanina look Just like stone Lree trunks, and what seems'to be stems of vines tan be seen winding raund some of them. Bot the trunks are yéry crowded together, | sometimes only tyo or three feet apart, and one wolders how any trees could grew so large when su close to- gether, The geologists explained that these are not fossil trees but solution tubes. Solation tubes - may occur in limestone or, as in this ease, in-sand dunes contain- ing much lmey material such as shells, Water drains into sma}! pools on.the surface and then percolates downward in definite ‘channels; causing the lime to harden and cement together. The whole area may then be up- _lifted; the lovse material soon becomes blown or washed away while the water-hardened parts remain as upstanding columns. Solution” tubes may vary Is shape, but at Cape Bridgewater they are fairly circular in cross section giving the appearance of tree trunks. Though this offers a more or legs satisfactory explanation ot the crowded col- umns, one regrets losing the “Petrified Forest", ~ Lunch was taken durmg a light, shower of rain, with mem- bers jnaflequately protected by 2 élump of large Moonahs. (Mela- leuca pubeseens), Moonahs are very plentiful in the Bridge- water locality and may yvrow: to heights of twenty ov thirty feet, Many of these trees have weather-beaten, twisted trunks with only a few sparse chimps of follage at the top, so that ove wonders how they continue to thrive. The Moonah bushes dar Vier. Nov —Val, 79 ried their: spikes of creamy flowers, - ; Most-of the afternoon was spent at the Bridgewater, Lakes.., which are most attractive. Seve- ral members dabbled about the marshy fringes amongst bul- rushes, sedges, Slender Knat- weed (Palygonum manus) and. smaller water-loving plants. Ses Box (Aljzia buxifolia) was very abundant there, also Coast Beard-heath (Leucopagon par-, wflorus) bearjng its little white berries, and there was a glorious spread of «Fairy Fan-flower. (Scasvola, aemule) with laven- der blooms~up to twa inches across. Previously quite a lot of the dainty “Small-fruit Pan- flower (S. wuierocarpd) had heen ‘ seen,. but this handsome large - one was new ‘'to-many of the party. Some members thought to walk through thick scrub~ over the high sand dures te the coust (Discovery . Bay) ‘but, though they climbed to crest aiter crest, there were always more dunes ahead, and they re- turned, mission unaccomplished. Others were drawn to the cave near the road. .. S i Eventually all” groups re- turned to the coach, which tray- eljeé on to a high spot where a wonderful view was obtained of the Lukes and Discovery Bay. The vehicles—the coach and ten other cars—made quite a pro- cession along the road, The re- turn to Portland was via Cash‘ more. .' _ : - Inthe evening, Mr. B. Krach- enbuehl, af Adelaide, secretary of the Field Naturalists Club of South Australia, showed very interesting slides of that. state. Throughout the stay tt was a August 1962 _ ~wften + privilege fo ‘enjoy the company ot this enthusiastic young nat- uralist and of his wite, his com- ments- on South Australian varieties of plants met with in the Portland district adding to the interest, Z - (to be continued) \ Letter to'the Editor: - An Appreciation ‘Dear Sir, : - ; “May T express 'my sincere admira-: tion fol the magnificent achicvement , of Mr. &. Corrigan-in his. capacity vt Alberton Shire Enginen,; in. carving oyt from the. bush two sovh lovely National Parks.as ‘Tarra Valley and Bulga. He has indeed left a most precious, git to the people of Lhis. r State: a beauty to be cherished for- - ever. ' “Mi I have. visited Voth ‘these parks several times in the course of my in- vestigation-into the Lyrebird's song and its musies] structure and have pondered that these two fascinating parks wauld not have been in existence but for the bold and imaginative ‘initiative of one man _ ,aceupying the mdédest position of Shire Enelneer. . ‘ No less miraculous was Mr, Cor- rigan's ability to find sufficient money to, finance, hig frieda. The utider- takings involved not only tha pro- vision of amenities within the parks, bit alse the, construction af « scenic uccess road along.the, valley and the erection of a suspension bridge at Bulga Park, To me, after: thirteen years with the Country Roads Board the thought -that the huge sum of money Necessary to cover these ex- penses could ‘be aquired out of a Shire budget is completely unreal: yet it wes done. ' Ib is. not for the inert, masses, but for daring jndividuale ta make his- tory, As-G, B. Shaw ence said, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the ~-world; the unreasonable man adapts the world tu himself. Therefore all progress depends an unreasonable. m™m - ' a —ic. 0, Halafotf. ; 107 ' ' s, | tse e% Withthe Editor _ These columns are available notes and queries. Addres Grasshoppers of the Mountains These observations, and a question, have been sent along by Mr. G. A. Crichton of Alex- andra: On March 7, on top of the Mount Stirling Road, I found two Mountain Grasshoppers. These were apparently females heavy with eggs, very thick and deep and about 1% inches long. They were dark grey, almost black all over except the large hopping legs which were ringed by yellowish circles, The wing’ covers were very rounded and dimpled and at certain angles this gave them a_ spangled appearance. References state that these insects make no attempt to escape except to drop to earth, but rely on bluff. Mine made every effort to escape, crawling away over the short mountain herb- age they appeared to have been feed- ing on, and hopping if they were put on anything elevated. At no time did they make any show of bluff, such as described, by raising their wing cases and displaying a brightly coloured abdomen. Furthermore, they did have membranous flying wings which they started to unfold several times when desperate to escape. 108 each month for your nature s your correspondence to the Editor, “Victorian Naturalist’, P.O. Box 21, Noble Park, Victoria. On mentioning mountain grasshop- pers to a friend, he presented me with one he had captured some weeks previously on the Cathedral Range. He said there were plenty of them, feeding on Hedge Wattle (Acacia armata). Now this specimen is a beautiful thing: about an inch long, olive-green with some broad dark markings, and covered all over with tiny pin-point white dots, including its short quarter-inch feelers, and there is a white triangle at the rear of the thorax. It is apparently im- mature, and shows two small wing buds, but makes up for lack of flight by the vigour of its hops. Now which specimen is Mountain Grasshopper? the real The description of the first is quite typical of the Mountain Grasshopper, Acridopeza reti- culata (family Tettagonidae — long - horned grasshoppers). However, females of the species have no wings beneath the short wing-covers (tegmina). Edith Coleman published notes on the life history and habits of Acri- dopeza in the Naturalist of June Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 and November 1938, April 1939 and Jone 1944. The second insect appears to be s species of Monistvia (family Acriditdae—short-horned prass- hoppers), Members of this genus are flightless, having only rudi- mentary wings in the adult Stage. While un the subject of moun- tain grasshoppers, it is appropri- ate to include this comment by Miss Jean Galbraith of Tyers, after an excursion to the high- lands by one of the Gippsland field naturalists clubs: Flowers covered the high moors of Mount Skene when we were there on January 25, but there were signs of ather life also, A member of the party found a yery large worri—about one fout Jong and proportionately thick. lt reminded me of the giants near Loch. An envrnowous. brown grass- hopper was identified by Mr. Burns of the National Museun) as a Moun- tain Grasshopper (Acridepuzd reticul- ata), whith is common on Mount Hotham and Mount Bogone and is geeasianally seen in the lowlands. Birds were rare on the mountain-top, Pipits being the only kind in evidence. The same Acridopeza was in evidence near the Wombargo Range in north-eastern Gipps- land, at 4,800 feet elevation, in January 1961, and both sexes were very abundant on ithe Cobberss Mountains—6,000 feet up—duriig Easter the same year, At the other end of the state, members of the F.N.C.Y. observed the Mountain Grass- hopper during the club excurs- jon to Portland last summer; and a short note about it is due to appear in next month's Nat- urelist with the concluding part of the excursion report. Edith Coleman commented upon the lowland distribution of this in- sect, recording it as plentiful on August 1962 parts of the Mornmgton Pen- insula, and suggesting that it was more abundant near the coast than in the mountains. Possums as Tight-rope Walkers This observation has been submitted by Mr. K, C, Halafoff, of Upper Ferntree Gully: About midnight my wife called me and said that she thought there was & possum on the roof L went inte the back garden and saw a small ringlail possum on the electric cable connecting the house with the bun- walow, Jt ran wWitth the amazing skill of a tight-repe artist along the cable towards the bungalow. 1 returned inside, pecled a banans, stuck it on the end ef a stick and went bark into the garden, The baby possum was sitting quietly on the cable, Slowly I raised the stick antil the banana was right Under its nose, Far a while there was silenee, then came a sound like an infant sucking, The possum had “got. the message” and was chew- ing at the banata, still attached to the stick, This incident brings to mind a related occurrence which took place several years ago, along the road between Genoa and Mallacoota, in eastern Victoria, Late at night, the car headlights revealed an animal, apparently suspended in mid-air high above the road, Investigation showed that it was @ ringtail possum, walking Slowly, upright, along: the Genoa-Mallacoota telephone wire, At that time a single cable connected the two townships, bebig attached to ea series of ingulators which were fixed to eonyenient trees. ‘The line ernssed the road at that point, with a span of perbaps forty or fifty feet, and the possuin was using it evidently to avoid ground travel and the possible hazard of fox or car, 109 Two Aboriginal Legends of the Ballarat District The two legends were obtained during a visit to Lake Tyers Aboriginal Station. One had al- ready been recorded in a@ slightly different form, but.as it appeared in an obscure scientific journal published over a hundred years ago, both the original form and the new version are given here. The second legend has not before been published. My informant was an old full-blood aboriginal woman, Mrs. Annie Alberts, who was born at Lake Condah. She is probably the last full-blood aborigine from the Western Thistrict. The Fight between Mount Buninyong and Mount Elephant The original version of this legend was recorded by W. Stanbridge, in a paper entitled “Some particulars of the general characteristics, astronomy, and mythology of the tribes in the Central parts of Victoria, South-~ ern Australia’, and appeared in the Transactions of the Ethno- logical Society of London, Vol- ume 1, 1861. ; Writing about the tribes in the neighbourhood of Fiery Creek he states: One of the legends that these tribes ate fond of relating is that Tyrrinallum (Mount Elephant) and Bouningyounz (two valeanic hills about thitty miles apart) were for- merly black men, (hat they quarrelled and fought, the former being armed 110 By A. Massoua with a leeowil and the latter with a hand spear, and after a prolonged contest Tyrrinallum thrust nis spear fn Bountngyoung's side, the cause of the present hollaw in the side of the hill, which so infuriated him that he dealt the other a tremendous blow, burying the point of the leeowil in his head, which made the present large eratér and knocked him to the spot where he now stands, Mrs. Alberts version ig as follows: Mount Elephant and Mount Bunin- yong were once men, Mount Elephant Was if poSsession of a stone axe. Buninyong offered him some gould for it. Having agreed they met at what is now Pitfield Diggings for the ex- change. Some time later Buninyong reconsidered, and desired his gold back, Elephant retused. Buninyong sent him a fighting message, and the challenge was accepted. They niet at Pitheld Diggings. Elephant buried his spear in Buninyong's side, and the hole can be seen to this day: Elephant received a deadly blow aon the head from Buninyong's stone axe, The gaping hole on Elephant’s head can also be seen to this day, The two men, mortally wounded, retired in opposite directions; their bodies, turned into mountains, tan be seen today at the spots where they died. It is obvious that this latter version has post-European ele- ments, at least in the exchange of gold for a stone axe. Gold, of course, was of no value to tribal aborigines, and it was only after the arrival of white men that they learnt its value. The fact that gold was exchanged for a stone axé is another indication of the high esteem in which axes were held. Vict. Nat —Vol. 79 Mount Buninyong (Bunin- youang, Knee Mountain) seen from the south-west has a vague resemblance to a man, lying on his back, with knees drawn up. A peculiarity of the mount is that its crater, locally known as “The Basin”, is about half way up the western flank. Mount Elephant (Derrinallum or Dijerinallum, Home of Sea Terns). was so called by the aborigines because of the large number of these birds frequent- ing the marshes in the neigh- bourhood. Europeans call it Mount Elephant, because of its vague resemblance to one of these pachyderms lying on its side. The crater of this mount is at the top. Pitfield Diggings (Warrebaal, Place of Red Gums) apparently enters into this legend as being about half-way between the two mountains, and not because of gold having been found there. On the other hand it could have been a traditional fighting ground, where the challenged tribes would come to meet the challengers and so it would be natural for it to be the scene of a legendary fight. August 1962 Mount Elephant. The story of the fight is a classical example of the primi- tive man’s way of explaining natural features in the landscape. of their territory. The Witch of Lake Burrumbeet Lake Burrumbeet (Big Water) is an extensive sheet of water about twelve miles west of Ballarat, Judging by the large numbers of stone implements collected over the years on ex- tensive camping grounds on the bordering sand hills, the south- eastern Shores of the lake were much frequented by the aborig- ines. The north-western shores, on the other hand, are skirted by low basaltic cliffs rising about thirtv-five feet. Although not very high, these cliffs are ab- rupt and difficult of ascent. From the top of the cliffs the ground gently rises in a westerly direction, culminating in the 200-foot eminence called Mount Callander. At the base of the cliffs the flat, narrow shoreline, only eight or nine feet wide, is strewn with basalt pebbles and boulders detached from the cliff- face by the action of the ele- 11] Basalt Cliffs, Lake Burrumbeet. ments, Erosion is also respon- sible for a number of caves at the foot of the cliffs. The water of the lake, at this point, is polluted by dead birds, fish, and water-plants, putrefy- ing in the shallows, the prevail- ing winds apparently driving these carcasses, as well as other litter, to this side of the lake. At the time of my visit a dead sheep added modernity to this gravevard. To my knowledge no artifact has ever been found on or near these cliffs, although I feel sure this area must have been a source of raw material, as basalt was used by the aborigines in making their implements. Ap- perently, they preferred the open sand hills on the other side of the lake to the shelter of the cliff-caves, which could have been haunted by the ghosts of dead men. A legend, which fits admirably into this landscape, is remem- bered by Mrs. Alberts. 112 The the home of a creature with the face of a pretty woman but with the legs of an emu. She would stand on the cliff top and attract the attention of passing blackfellows. When they came caves in the cliffs were once near her she would kick them over the cliffs into the water. Many men had thus disappeared. At last two friends decided to in- vestigate these disappearances. As they came near the lake they smelt the horrible smell of putrefaction. They saw the woman standing on the cliff tops, but she did not see them, so they cautiously made their way to the cliff edge, and from there saw the dead bodies lying around in the water below. At the bottom of the cliffs the shore was strewn with the stone axes belonging to the dead men. They armed themselves with many of these, and stealing upon the witch they soon axed her to pieces. This simple legend, typical of the stories told to children, draws attention to cliffs in an otherwise undulating country, and is the blackfellows explana- tion for the large quantity of basalt pebbles lying around, and in addition explains why this corner of the lake is always foul smelling. Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 New Butterfly Records for Victoria Recent correspondence from my friend Mr. Archie May of Noorinbee near Cann River in eastern Victoria has contained reports of still more new butter- fly records for this state. Mr. May mentions that he has seen and taken several specimens of the “Blue Tiger’, Danaida mel- issa hamata Macleay (Family Danaidae) in the season that has just finished. The finding of this pretty species so far south is indeed noteworthy; in fact the late Dr. G. A. Waterhouse men- tions in his book, What Butter- fly is That?, that it is even a rare visitor to Sydney! It is verv common from the northern rivers of New South Wales, up the Queensland coast to Cape York, and into the Northern Territory at Darwin. The sexes are similar in size and coloura- tion; the upperside of the wings is black with numerous hyaline blue spots and streaks, the latter being mostly in the middle of the wings and the former around the margins, The underside is similar in pattern but much paler. The larvae feed on the foliage of a small-leaved vine which exudes a milky sap when broken (Asclepiadaceae). They are grey in colour with trans- verse black bands; the head is black with grey markings on the front. The pupa is green, short and thickset, and has ten golden spots around the middle. It is suspended by the cremaster August 1962 By A. N. Burns to some object, usually near the food plant. Danaid butterflies are very tenacious of life and live for comparatively long periods; they are also capable of travell- ing considerable distances, so it is likely that Mr. May’s re- cords were migrants from New South Wales. The capture of a specimen of the Common Eggfly, Hypolim- nas bolina nerina Fabricius (Family Nymphalidae), is an- other very interesting record for Victoria. Mr. May captured a male of this butterfly earlier in the year. Normally this is a very common insect in New South Wales, north of New- castle, and right up through coastal Queensland and round to the north-west of Western Australia, Waterhouse — states that it too is a rare visitor to Sydney but that it does some- times breed there. Records over the past few vears from ento- mologists in New South Wales show that its range extends con- siderably farther south and also that it sometimes breeds well south of Sydney. The sexes are very dissimilar in colour and the species affords an excellent example of sexual dimorphism. The male has the wings on the upperside rich black with cen- tral white spots which are widely margined with iridescent purple. The underside is brown with a double row of white marginal spots; the forewings have a 113 Danaida melissa hamata Macleay, male. 2. Hypolimnas bolina nerina Fabricius male, Hypolimnas bolina nerina Fabricius, female. Photo: E.R. Rotherham white band at the end of the cell and several white bars crossing it, and the hindwings have a central white marking. Individual females vary very much in depth of colour and ex- tent of markings, but a typical specimen has the upperside of the forewings black with a sub- apical white band, several apical white spots and a lower discal orange brown patch. The hind- wings also are black with a large central white band over- laid with shining blue scales. The underside of the wings is brown with the basal portion of the forewings reddish brown, repeating the markings of the upperside in pattern but more extensively and without the overlying blue scales. The larva is dark brown, with rows of long branched spines bearing numbers of hairs; the head is orange brown with two long black horns. The pupa is brown with lighter brown dots and markings, and has rows of spines along the back. It is sus- pended head downwards by the cremaster and usually located in some sheltered place remote from the food plant. The larvae feed on several plants, mainly 114 Paddy’s Lucerne (Sida retusa), various species of Portulaca, and Alternanthera denticulata, a plant which grows in swampy places. Should this fine butter- fly breed in Victoria it should not have difficulty in finding suitable food plants because por- tulacas are largely grown in gardens and Alterhanthera den- ticulata (commonly called Joy Weed) also grows in this state. Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Field Naturalists Club of Victoria General Meeting—July 9, 1982 Thea president, My. M. KE, Hoyghtan, was iit the chalr and ahkout one hun- dred members attended, Mrs, FP. Glad- stone, ftom Beechworth. who led the FNC... Easter excursion, was wel- eomed. Members stood for 4 minute in silence in respect io the memory of Dry. BR. T, deg meinber for almost. forty years, wha died recently at the age of 79. Mr, J, H. Wills spoke iN appreciation of Dr. Patton’s great worth and work as a stimulating and witty lecturer in the Botany School at Melbourne University, leader ‘of excursions, authority on eucalypt distribution snd the eculogy of a var- jety of Australian communities, the author of seven papeTs en the subject te the Royal Society. He studied the explaitatiun of forest products such as honey-yielding trees, and for the Oommanwealth Govermment during the war he mapped the tree cover in Victoria for camouflage, He was a regular contributor to Four Garden, especially on vegetable growing, Mr, H. C. B. Stewart, in moving that Mr. H. P, Dickins, who is ninety years ald, be elected as an honorary member of the club, spoke of his work if organizing nature shows, as a good excursion leader and a water. col- ourist of wildflowers, particularly orchids. Mr, R. Hudson, assistant secretary, who deputized for the secretary, Wir. EB. H. Coghill (in Queensland al pres- ent), announced that Mr. E. H, Zeck of Sydney was awarded the ¥.N.C.V, Natural History Medallion for 1962 for his work on insect lfe-histeries, Mr. W. C. Woollard drew attention to the editorial in the July Natauratist concerning the British Museum Ex- pevitions, to the last paragraph of which he took exception, Tha president read s Jetter that was being sent to the editor requesting that the full text of the motion on this matter read, discussed and varried at the Just pene- ral ineeting, be printed in the Natur- afist in fall, Mr. A.J, Swaby announced 4 ©.A.E. sehool on the Geampians from Octo- August 1962 ber 12 to 26 for the atudy of flora, fuuna and géolopy. He invited & mveti- ber with a var to go there with hima fitle before the beginiing of the study, The F.N.G.V, Nature Shaw is to be held in the Lower Melbourne Towa Hall on September 10, 11 and 22, 1962. . Mr. B.5. MWanks is to represent the F.N.G.Y. at the Barrier C)ub on the recent visit to the Burke and Wills DIG tree, Fourteen new members noninations appear in the Naturalist were elected, The subject for the evening was the FIN.C.V, Easter excursion to Beechworth. Mr. D. B. McInnes out lined some of the cavly history from 1839 when a Sheep station wag estab- lished and 1852 when gold was dis- covered at Spring Creek. Be described feological and topographical features shown i colour slides taken by mem- vers. Mrs. D. S. Lewis spoke of the species of birds seen, and Migs Alison Hooke of the vegetation, especially the trees, including Black Oypress Pine (Caltitris endecher,], Mrs, Gladstone was thanked for her help jn leading excursions, Mr. A. J. Swaby exhibited garden- grown native plants: Grevillea ger- tcea, G, thelemanniana, “Althofer's Grevilles, Hodge's Grevillea (Poor- inda Canstance, probably a hybrid of G. victoriag and G. junuperma), Chor- iene cordata, Thryptomens savicola, Payne’s Thryptomene and Queens land Silver Wattle (Acacia podalyriae- whose duly ia), Mr, R, Condron showed a voellection af beautiful moths eaught at his home at Box Hill. Mr. ©. J- Gabriel brought a Mavritius folluse, Magilus an- tiguus, which lives on coral, begin- ning life as x typical snai] but grow- ing a tube mary inches Jong which th seals behind with calcium carbonate as it grows, Mrs, E. Bennett showed a Red-back Spider ajid ege-cases, She has noted more giant slugs, Lionar intima, that frequent the cats? milk saucer, some being four inches Jung. She pointed out that she had not stated previously that they did riot eat grass. A museum official said they eat decaying vegetation, Ws Resolution Relating wy Prapased British Muscum Expeditions to Australia The report that the British Museum {Natural History) has planued a futuher of expeditions with bhe ob- ject of studying and collecting speci- mens of the native fauna of the Com- monwealth ts viewed with apprehen- ‘sion by the Field Naturalists Club of Vietoria, The Club believes that no impediment shoyld be placed on the participants engaging in the scientific study of this country’s native wild- life so long as that study does not call for the destruction of species whose numbers are slready seriously diminished by loss of habitat or other causes, nor the disturbance, par- ticularly during the breeding season, of such species in their often re- stricted habitat. : As field naturalists, members of this club are in a better position than most to appreciate the real need for strict protection of sueh species and they would deplore any action in official quarters which facilitated their killing or disturbance by aby persori or organization whatsoever. The club considers that a clear dis- tinetion should be made hetween scien- tifie study and the amassing of a mere collection of specimens Fixport 6? specimens is considered to be per- massible in very strictly limited num- hers for scientific study only if it tan be demonstrated that factlities for sich work are not already available in this country, - Accordingly, the club asks that, in respect of Victorian native wildlife, a permit to kill or captrre any animal, collect any bird’s egg or yemove any specimen from its natural habitat be granted to such expeditions only after consultation with the Council of the Field Natueslists Club of Vic- toria or its nominee, the Counc!) of the Roya! Australasian Ornithologists Union or its nominee and the Council of the Bird Observers Club or its nominee, Porther the club requests the Com- monwealth Minister of Customs to ensure that permits th export be wot issued for specimens designated in the state of prigin as “rare species”, Tt iz further resolyed that a copy of this statement be forwarded to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Cus- tams, the Chief Secretary of the State 116 of Victoria, the Director of Fisheries und Wildlife, the Direetor Brittsh Museum (Natural History), the press and to 4)! organizations affiliated with the Tiel] Naturalists Club of Victoria and that these organizations be in- vited to sapport the requests by the most effective means at their disposal, It is alsa resolved that allied organ- izations in all states be sent a copy of the statement in ower to ensure that each is aware of the Field Nat- uralists Club of Victoria's attitude in this matter, Marine Biology and Wntomology Groiip—June 3, L062 Mr. B. Wf. Coghill chaired this meet ing, which was attended by bwenty- six members, The lecture for the evening was given by Miss Hope McPherson, urator of Molluscs, National Museum. She spoke on 4 marine survey of Port Phillip Bay carried out by the Marine Study Group in wonjunclion with the Fisheries and Wildlife Department. The lecturer pointed out that the need for such & marine survey had been felt for some time, Tt took nearly four years of mostly weekend work on the part of the group, a club of very enthusiastic wembers, and Mr, J, Lyneh and other members of the Tisheries und Wildlife Department, Among other things the cold-water earal reefs were mapped, and it was discovered that they were far more extensive than was originally thought. Algo some marine species new to stience Were found, Mise McPherson's lecture was very well allustrated wilh many coloured slides, among these being pictures of hydroids; sea anemones, soft corals sponges, jelyAsh and palvehacte an annelid worms, A yote of thanks was moved by My, 4A, Fairhall, who ex- pressed the feelings of members when he said how much the lecture had been enjoyed, Marine Biology and Entomalogy Group—July 2, 1962 Mr. J. Meade chaired the ineeting, which was attended by twenty-two members. Wys, Z Lee showed several hewuti- fu) slides of insects and marine hfe These slides were up to her usual high standard (she has won internationat honours for her photography) and Viet. Not,—Vol, 79 were thofoughly enjoyed by all mem- bers. Miss L, M. White identified the fauna shown in each slide, and gave life histories and other detsils that added to the interest, My. P. Getery brought a micro- projector and showed living specimens of Mloscularia vingens. a tbe rotifer, This proved of great interest to memn- bers, many of whom had never seen mucroacopical life projected before. Membership of the eroup is in- creasing, Fauna Survey Group—June 14, 1962 Twenty-twe members and five visi- tors atkended the meeting, with Mr. N, A, Wakefield in the chair, in & letter to the group, Mrs, #, Bedggood of Ballarat reported the observation of 4 small animal, which from its description, was the Yellow. footed Phascozale (Aptdchius fae ipes), feeding and sunning :tsell pear Eunjil's Caye in the Black Range, Mr W. J, Begley has offered fhe group the use of an additional spot- heht and battery set for night work, There seemed ta be a misunder- standing by some country . + ek * By uf tenet 2 RAILWAY ROAD METAL ROAD TO BALMORAL Locality Plan of Toolondo Fish Traps. 164 Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Local people maintain that these trenches have always been referred to by their elders as “native fish traps” and claim that the old people had seen them in operation. When in working order, these channels connected two swamps, which are about a quarter of a mile apart, but because of the fall of the ground, the trenches were excavated in the shape of a large loop and thus were about three-quarters of a mile long. The accompanying diagram will give an idea of how the traps look today and also what was possibly their original ex- tent. The magnitude of the labour involved can be judged by the fact that the main channel is still twelve feet wide and two feet six inches deep, while the secondary channels are four feet wide, and, in some places, still a foot deep. The camping ground of the aborigines who assembled there during the eeling season can still be seen on the sand hillock on the north-east side of the swamp where a number of stone implements, including micro- liths, were found. Eels were a favourite food, possibly on account of their fat content in which native diet was deficient. At certain times of the year the tribes would con- gregate at the eeling centres throughout western Victoria in order to feast on these. First hand accounts by early travel- lers speak of the eels being collected in large heaps, and, as many more were captured than Plan of the remnant of the Toolondo Fish Traps, (not to seale.) October 1962 CULTIVATED re < = us 6 z a] ae Fs PADDOCK 165 could be consumed, the stench of the putrefying fish could be smelt long distances away. The natives actually did enjoy them a little on the “high” side, and often buried them for a few days prior to eating them; this could be described as a primitive attempt at ‘“jugged eel’. It is to be hoped that some Australian Wattles—No. 38 means of protecting what is left of these traps will be considered by the proprietors of the land on which they are situated. The loss of a little strip of ground would be more than compensated for by the pleasure derived from the altruistic gesture of preserv- ing these rare relics for future generations. Hairy-pod Wattle—Acacia glandulicarpa Hairy-pod Wattle is an at- tractive, rather dense, much branched, dwarf shrub, covered with tiny circular or oval phyl- lodes. The foliage is dull olive- green, each “leaf” rather thin, with one main nerve and con- spicuous feather-veins spread- ing from it. When the phyllodes are cir- cular, they are well under a quarter-inch across; but when they are oval, they are about a quarter-inch long or more. They are rarely evenly oval, but rather one-sided—the shape of a gibbous moon. This little wattle belongs to north-western Victoria, and its flower-heads are small, in keep- ing with the foliage. There are little globular heads of rich yellow, on stalks slightly longer than the leaves; and the blossom is so abundant that whole bushes look golden, like gay clouds along the dry roadsides. Hairy-pod Wattle. Photographed, from dried specimen, by E. Faisst. 166 By JEAN GALBRAITH The name is appropriate. The bumpy, sausage-shaped pods, about half an inch long, are clothed with bright brown hairs. Each pod looks like a_ short- haired ‘woolly bear” cater- pillar, Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Gastroliths or “ Crabs’ Eyes” Anyone finding gastroliths, perhaps in the bed of a dry water-course, and having no clue as to their identity, can be puz- zled by these discoidal concre- tions. Their creamy-yellow colour and high polish makes them attractive. Their texture is suggestive of a fossil, and in- deed they have been found fossil in U.S.A. Gastroliths figured early in the old pharmacopoeia as oculi seu lapides cancorum — hence the name “crab’s eyes”. These crab’s eyes were ground up and often mixed with other ingredi- ents, in the apothecaries’ materia medica of the Middle Ages. Even at a later date they were used in medicine for ab- sorbent and antacid purposes. Crab’s eyes should not be con- fused with the gastroliths or gizzard stones swallowed by birds and lizards (Baker 1956). At certain seasons of the year (depending on the age of the animal), a pair of gastroliths develop in the stomach of par- ticular types of crustaceans, those from fresh-water crayfish (also called lobsters) being the best known. Gastroliths commence to form some time before ecdysis (moult- ing) occurs, and are fully formed when moulting takes place. A young crayfish moults several times a year but in adult life ecdysis occurs annually. A lobster ten inches long and four years of age has moulted prob- ably about twenty-five times. At the onset of ecdysis the cells of October 1962 By E. M. DAVIES the epidermis become active and calcium salts are withdrawn from the cuticle to be trans- ferred to the gastroliths which therefore increase in size. The ossicles and teeth of the gastric mill also become softened in a similar way and contribute to the enlargement of the gastro- liths. “It may be reasonably as- sumed that in a crayfish as in other arthropods, ecdysis is initi- ated by the production of moult- ing hormones” (Grove & Newell 1961). An English observer states that in crayfish four years of age, gastroliths begin to form about forty days before ecdysis takes place, but the interval is less in younger crayfish, and is not more than ten days during the first vear of life. Ecdysis is a heavy tax on the animal, and if the “‘eyes” are not properly developed the moulting is apt to be fatal. Even when it is successful the crayfish is left soft hke wet chamois leather, so is very vulnerable to predatory animals. It takes about six weeks for the new “skin” to harden and the crayfish is then in such need of lime that it usually devours its cast-off exoskeleton. “Gastroliths are by no means a mere concretion but are a cuti- cular growth having a definite structure and are attached to the stomach wall during formation. When fully formed they are readily detached from the stom- ach wall’ (Huxley 1880). They are found centrally situated on each side of the stomach cavity, 167 enclosed between the tough horny lining of that cavity and the skin of the stomach wall. The side turned towards the stomach is flattened, being smooth at the margin with the centre slightly concave and showing an attach- ment scar. The opposite side is convex, smooth and polished. At the time of shell casting, the horny (chitinous) lining of the stomach is also cast off and this causes the stones to be shed into the stomach cavity. There they become ground down and in a dissolved state are absorbed by the blood and go to help the hardening of the new exoskele- ton. The process of destruction and absorption of the gastroliths takes twenty-four to thirty hours in very young crayfish and seventy to eighty hours in adults (Huxley 1880). A vertical section shows that the gastrolith is composed of thin superimposed layers of which the inner are parallel to op f 4 Vew Wi tt 168 the flat inner surface while the outer gradually becomes concen- tric with the outer surface. Moreover the inner layers are less calcified than the outer curved ones, which are particu- larly dense and hard. In fact, in their composition they are very similar to other hard parts of the exoskeleton. An analysis of a gastrolith showed that it was made up of the following com- ponents: Animal matter, soluble in water, 11.43% ; animal mat- ter, insoluble in water (probably chitin), 4.33°; phosphate of lime, 63.16% ; soda reckoned as carbonate, 1.419%. Mr. A. M. Olsen of the C.S.1.R.0. Tasmanian Regional Laboratory, Hobart, who is pre- sently conducting investigations on the southern spiny lobster (Jasus lalandei), advised me that he was ‘“‘not aware that this spiny lobster forms gastroliths just prior to moulting. If how- ever it does form them they must be very insignificant. Because of the readily available source of calcium in the sea he doubted if J. lalandei would make any effort to store a plentiful ele- ment. On the other hand fresh water crayfishes would need to conserve calcium to assist with the hardening of their new and soft exoskeleton” (pers. comm.). Diagrammatic section through the wall of the stomach of a moulting lobster, cutting gastro- lith. EF, chitinogenous epithelium; GG, gastrolith, a differentiated part of the old cuticle; GP, gastrolithie sac; NC1, new cuticle of gastro- lithie sac; JW, outer side of stomach wall next to body cavity; New C, new cuticle; OC1 the deciduous part of cuticle overlying gastrolith; Old C, old cuticle; S, interior of stomach;WS, wall of stomach. After F. H, Herrick. Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Likely gastroliths are on the banks of localities for finding creeks, rivers and dams. They have been found in the nests of the White-faced Heron and in the excrement of the Black Cor- morant. Both birds are feeders on yabbies (Parachaeraps bi- carinatus). It is recorded that two gastroliths of the Murray Lobster (Astacopsis serratus) were taken from the stomach of a Murray Cod; presumably the lobster had only just moulted and the gastroliths were the only part to remain undigested. A fellow naturalist, Mr. H. E. Wil- kinson, when digging in the banks of the Merri River and the Glenelg River, recently found two small gastroliths, evidently from yabbie burrows. Fossil gastroliths have been recorded from the Eocene of Texas and Louisiana, U.S.A. These fossils called respectively Wechesia pontis, and W. lowisi- October 1962 Upper: liths of Murray Crayfish (Asta- Gastro- copsis serratus), Murray River, Centre: Gastro- liths of Yabbie { Parachaeraps bicarinatus) , Glenelg River. Gastro- Murray (Asta- copsis serratus), River. The gastrolith Lower: liths of Crayfish Geehi largest figured is 29mm in diameter and weighs 11.3 grams ana, are similar in that they occur in glauconitic marl de- posited in a warm relatively shallow marine environment. They are reported as rare and are considered to have “origi- nated in the larval stage (pos- sibly the 4th molt of marine crayfish” (Fizzel & Norton 1958). From a palaeontological point of view gastroliths are strati- graphically unimportant but they have some bearing on crus- tacean evolution and migration. REFERENCES Baker, A. A., 1956. The Swallowing of Stones by Animals. Vict. Nat. 72 (6):, 82-95, Frizzel, D. L. & Exline, H., 1958. Crustacean Gastroliths from _ the Claiborne Eocene of Texas. Micro- palaecontology 4 (3): 273-280. Frizzel, D. L., & Exline, 1961. Crus- tacean Gastroliths from the Jackson Eocene of Louisiana. Bull, School Mines & Metallurgy 99: 3-6. 169 Grove & Newell, 1961. Animal Bio- logy, p. 61. Hale, H. M., 1927. Crustaceans of South Australia, p. 92, Herrick, T. H. H., 1895. The Ameri- Pond Life Hunting* The Water and Free-swimming Material. The water in the col- lecting tube usually contains some large forms such as water- fleas or cyclops, as well as small rotifers and smaller protozoa. The idea here is to divide the pond population by using the strainers. With a coarse-mesh sieve in a spare specimen tube, and using the funnel, pour the contents of the collecting tube (except the debris at the bot- tom) through the strainer. The mesh will retain any large forms such as Entomostraca, and the concentration in the sieve may be varied by raising or lowering it in the water of the specimen tube. The contents may then be removed by placing a finger over the top of the sieve, removing it from the tube, and decanting the concentrated collection into one of the flat-bottomed dishes, where it may be examined as required. The remaining water in the specimen tube may be treated similarly, using sieves of finer mesh, and the concen- trates examined in turn. A method recommended for examining these concentrates is as follows: Draw up the concen- trate into a pipette, then distri- bute it in spaced lines of drops on the three-inch square of per- spex. Since water does not ad- *Continued from Jast month, 170 can Lobster, Bull. U.S, Fish Commis- sion 15. Huxley, T. H., 1880. Jutroduction Study of Zoology. The Crayfish, McNeill, F., 1959. Gastroliths. Aus. Mus. Mag. 13 (1): 28-29. By D. E. McINNES here to perspex, the drops will not spread or run as they would on glass. Each drop may be examined under a low power ob- jective, and selected specimens may be picked up with the pip- ette and transferred to the com- pressor. A low power objective (two-inch or less) is necessary for examining the drops; higher powers are precluded by the dis- tortion introduced by the shape of the drop. The Debris. The material at the bottom of the collecting tube may be removed with a pipette and placed in one (or more) of the flat dishes, spread out, and covered with water. The con- centration in a dish should be so arranged that under a low power and with darkground illumina- tion the debris is more or less transparent. It will be mostly sand, decaying vegetation and dead Entomostraca, but careful examination may reveal speci- mens of Protozoa (Amoeba, Dif- flugia, Arcella, etc.), for this is their usual habitat. Selected specimens may be removed and transferred to the compressor. A quick examination may be made of a tube without weed by shaking it to mix the contents, then pouring a portion into a flat dish. The result will be a fair sample of the contents of the tube. The dish may be Vict. Nat.—vVol. 79 searched and the procedure re- peated with another lot of water. This gives a rough idea of what to expect in the tube, which is useful if time does not allow sieving of the material into separate divisions. Isolating a specimen from a dish or transferring one from the compressor may be done thus: Have on hand one medium pipette, one fine pipette, a jar of clean pond or tap water, and two three-inch squares of perspex. Place the dish containing the pond water and material (not more than a quarter-inch deep) on the microscope stage and, with a two-inch objective and darkground illumination, focus on the bottom of the water. Ex- perience has shown that most pond creatures tend to move along the bottom of the dish. Hold the dish with the left hand, and in the right hand have the medium pipette half filled with clean water and with the rubber teat compressed just enough to expel a drop or two. Put the end of the pipette in the dish, so that the tip is in focus in the centre of the objective field. Keep the pipette in posi- tion and, with the left hand, move the dish until the specimen is brought close to the tip of the pipette. A little practice in the apparent “reverse movement” seen under the objective, makes it possible to pursue even the liveliest specimen about the dish, keeping the tip of the pipette immobile. At the opportune moment the pressure on the teat is relaxed and the catch is drawn into the pipette. Usually the desired item is October 1962 accompanied by other specimens and often by rubbish. Expel the water from the pipette, in spaced lines of drops, onto the perspex square; and under low power ascertain which drop has in it the desired specimen. Take the fine pipette, half-filled with clean water and with the teat slightly compressed as before, put the tip into the drop of water and move the perspex with the left hand until, as before, the speci- men can be drawn up. Again expel the water, in spaced lines of dots on a fresh perspex plate, and examine under low power. Repeat the process until the specimen is alone in clear water. Then empty the fine pipette, half fill with clean water, expel a drop, take up the specimen, and place it in the compressor, It is important that when the vipettes are half-filled the rub- ber teat should be fully relaxed and then that just enough pres- sure should be applied to expel no more than two drops. If the teat is not fully relaxed in the first place, or if it is compressed too much secondly, when it is re- leased to catch the specimen, too much water is drawn up and the prize is lost in the barrel. I hope this article may prove helpful to those interested in pond life. The elation in obser- ving something not seen before, the thrill of the chase in bring- ing it into captivity, and the pride of victory when it can be identified and exhibited, are, on their own, sufficient grounds for enjoying this form of recreation, even without exploring any of the lines of investigation into natural history which may fol- low. 71 a ys a re ; With; the Editor These columns are available each month for your nature notes and queries. Address your correspondence to the Editor, “Victorian Naturalist’ Crane-flies at Lang Lang From Mrs. Vera Greaves of Lang Lang comes the following observation: This autumn we have had an influx of large mosquito-like insects, black in colour and which do not appear to bite. Great numbers of them hang in swarms under the eaves of the house, the porch and even under flower-pots. Honey-eaters, thrushes, wrens and Golden Whistlers flutter around the windows and trees, apparently en- joying the abundance of easy prey. We have retained as much of the na- tive bushland as is possible around our house and the insects may have come from the scrub. Mrs. Greaves encloses several specimens and asks what the insects are, why they have come in such numbers and whether they are friend or foe. The insects in question are crane-flies of the genus Dolicho- peza; they emerge in large num- bers and tend to assemble in sheltered places. They are harm- less and are frequently found at 172 P.O. Box 21, Noble Park, Victoria. that time of the year, even in the inner suburbs. The Delectable Quandong Miss Jean Galbraith has sent along some extracts from a letter written in October last year, by the late Ralph Higgin- son of Port Augusta in South Australia. The subject was the edibility of the quandong, about which Mr. Higginson wrote: We are forwarding you herewith a small sample of the dried fruits of our native peach or Quandong (Ku- carya acuminata). IT do not know if you have tried these before, but if you have not, I consider that you have missed one of life’s gastronomic de- lights, as they make a really delicious pie or tart or may be eaten simply as stewed fruit. But to get the full pleasure from them, they must be eaten with cream, scalded for pre- ference, They have a delicate flavour all of their own, and I cannot liken it to anything else. Cooking is the same as for any dried fruit, but watch the sugar as they are rather tart and it is better to add sufficient sugar to taste while they are cooking. Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 There are plenty of trees about this loeslity,; but they do not fruit very often, and the fruit are difficult to pick as the trees are too high to reach them from the ground, and the trees are much tao brittle to climb. T um afraid that most people simply pull the branches off and then pick. bul the sensible way is to take a bamboa ele end tap the vipe fruit whieh Will fall off and can be picked up. This is a lot of trouble, but they are worth it. Apavt front ‘straw- berries, they are the only frie that I teally enjoy cooked. The qguandongs are now placed in the genus Santalun, which jis classified, as ate the “native cherries” (Fxocarpus), in the family Santalacese, North-western Victoria has two species of the former—the Bit- ter Quandong or “Ming” (S. murrayanum) and the Sweet Quandong (S. acuminatum). Of the latter, A. J, Ewart wrote, in Flora of Victoria: The froit are edible, form a fa- Yourite food of emus, end the pulp can be made into jam or jelly. Miss Galbraith Was appar- ently not willing ta forego “one of life's gastronomic delights", and she reports; The guandongs really were de- licievs; I thought rather like a cross between clrerries and strawherries. Large-Leaf Grevillea On a vigit to Labertouche we were interested in the very narraw limits of altitude which Grevillen barklyana seems to tolerate. Until we reached the right keight (we had no alti- meter) there was not & bush, suddenly it was abundant and ¢on- tinued so fer miles, but it disappeared well before the highest point on the toad and reappeared only when ‘we descended to abut the same height ol. the other side, running out ab about the same height as we had first seen it. Despite this, the Large-leaf Grevilea grows quite well in low. jand gardens —IBAN GaLeRaAtTH ctober | 962 Rare Gippsland Agaric This note is from Mrs Ellen Lyndon of Leongatha, in South Gippsland: TI was fortunate enougli to find, on August Sth, two nice specimens of the apparently rare funeus, Hygro- phorus lewellinae, quite close to lhe state schoal wb Middle Tarwin. They were isolated specimens, growing in sandy soll wnder bracken, im a stringy-bark and peppermint associa- tion, This lovely toadstaol vould searcely he mistaken for any ather, lt is a delicate shade of violet throughout. First vecorded by a Miss Lewellin at Tarwin in 1830 and named in. her honour, so fav as we know it has been recorded anly three times sirice: in 44 in peaty soil among sedges at Foster, in 1956 in sandy soil among serub at Corinella, and now in 1962 at Tarwin Benin. The species was described by Mr. J. H. Willis in the Naturalist, September 1957, Bird Notes from Rosebery From time to time, letters come to us fom Mr. H. R. Hob- son, of Rosebery, on the eastern fringe of the Victorian Mallee. Here is the latest commentary, Written in mid-August: The geagon has heen exceptionally dvy, and there has been some bird movement aboot the area, For the past two weeks, at very trregular intervals, a lone Eastern Shrike-tit hus been calling in the trees about the homestead. This ts my first record of the species in this urea, although it has heen recorded Perccely in the vicinity of Wyperfeld National Park. Farlier, during autumn, four Swift Parrots psid a brief visit, and Brown- leaded Honeyeaters were busy in the trees rounil about, A lone Grey But- cher-bird patrolled the farmyard for ab least two months but has now left fur better hunting grounds. , On the last day of May, at what is known as the Little Lake at Mope- toun, T recorded a Greenshank and a flock of sixty Red-necked Avucets. The latter are frequently seen where swamp conditions are suitable, bot the Greenshank is seldom seen in this urea, 17 Amethysts at Eldorado Members of the Field Natural- ists Club of Victoria who saw, during this year’s Easter trip to Beechworth, « local resident’s callection of amethysts, ex- pressed a desire to visit Speci- meén Hill, where they had heen collected in 1910, Unfortunately, it was not possible to accede to these requests because know- ledge of the exact whereabouts of this spot had been lost, and in fact Specimen Hill had come te be regarded in & more or less legendary light. Determined to locate the hill and discover whether amethysts were still to be found there, my husband and I set off for EL dorado and talked our problem over with several residents there. Yes, they had heard of it; however it was now selected and farm-land and hard to get to; but the road was described and we went on, The hills were very rocky; lovely views of Springhurst and rolling farms bevond softened the view. A farmer directed us further, with a warning that visitors were not encouraged by the new owner of the property. Continuing past Pudding Hill, a round outcrop of granite, through gatea and lanes, past stands of Yellaw Box (#ucalyp- tus medliodara), Cypress Pime (Calitrizs) and Red Stringy- bark (HE, macrorrhyncha), we proceeded along a forest road to the entrance to “Wingara” sheep station. We asked of the owner per- mission to see Specimen Hill, 174+ By FRANCES GLADSTONE and it was kindly given, also help to the exact location, in a land rover. Keep Out’ and “No Digging" notices which we saw were put there, the owner said, because he did not like people coming in without permission. Specimen Hill is a low granite hill, with decomposed pink granite gravels about it, also micaceous guartz, white quartz seamed with white, opaque and clear crystals, and amethysts. Some amethysts were in crevices and holes in the granite, some in the quartz and some in the soi]. Many holes had been made in the ground in searching over the yesrs, and there had been much sifting of soil and gravel. We actually found several ex- quisite six-sided amethysts for ourselves, in among the gravel and the granite. About the hill are low, rocky outcrops, and the owner said he had found amethysts in other pisces shout the farm. Some- times he ploughed them up. Often they were with tourmaline or iron oxide or tin oxide. When the sun shone on the hill, sparkles of light came from the slope, from mica, from tiny crys- tals and from the arethysts. After a. shower is the best time, the owner said, as all the digging hides half the ones turned up; the rain washes them clean and he gathers them. He has a beautiful collection. I noticed a great deal of Nodding Blue-lily (Stypandra filauea), locally known as blue oats, also Rock Fern (Creilan- Vict. Not:—Vol. 79 thes tenuifolia}) growing almost, everywhere. Coming up after the rains were several clusters ot Pterostylis leaves and the round leaf of Acianthus. The trees on Specimen Hil] were Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornzs) ; stringybark, Lightwood (Acacia implexa) and a species of Casuarina un- known to us, Pink Zieria in Gippsland We have heen used to con- sidering Pink Zieria (Z. veron- icea F. Muell,) as a western Victorian species, though there Was an early record from Hast Gippsland, and recently it has been noted at several places in eastern Victoria, from Provyi- dence Ponds to Monkey Creek, near Sale. It is a very dwarf shrub with softly hairy leaves (rather like those of Grevillea lanigera) which are unlike those of other Victorian species of Zieria be- causé they are not divided into leaflets. They are a soft grey- green with a strong and pleasant lemon fragrance. In this, plants from al! localities agree, though (contrary to what one would expect) plants I have seen from South Australia and the Vietor- jan Mallee have leaves less grey ish than those growing in Gipps- land. There is however an in- teresting difference between the pale pink flowers of the Gipps- land form and the usually deeper pink flowers of the typical form, he latter open fat into the typ- ical starlike four-petalled flow- era of Zierta, but those of our October 1962 Perhaps some day the Field Naturalists Club may he able to have such places as Specimen Hi}! made into reserves, sanc- tuaries for nature lovers, In the meantime, it is good to know that any members up this way again may, with the owners permission, visit “Wingara” and find some améthysts for them- selves, By JEAN GALARALTH Gippsland form haye almost al- ways one petal curled so as toa appear more or Jess hooded, and, quite without exception in my experience, the flowers never open flat, but remain as a small rather scanty-looking bell until they fade, I have noted this in several Gippsland localities; in my own garden, and in that of Mr. W. Cane, and in both spring and autumn flowers, Though it is spring-flowering, there are some blooms at most other times of year, especially about March and April. As a further check on the dif- ference between Mallee and Gippsland forms I asked Mr. K, Stuckey of Furner, South Australia, for flowering speci- mens of the South Australian form. He sent a number of flowering sprays, All had the characteristic flat, wide-open flowers of the typical forra. It must be admitted that they are more attractive than the pale hooded or cupped fiowera of our Gippsland form, but our south- ern variation is interesting. 175 Field Naturalists General Mectine—September 10, 1962 The preetdent, Mr. M. K, Houghton, presided at the mecting, which was attended by about eighty members and friends. Mr. 0. H. Willis was con- wratulated on the publication of the first volume of A Handbook to Plants ée. Mietoria, whieh will authoritatively All a long-felt want. Mr J. R. Garnet brought to the notice of Members the possibility of some of Wilson’s Promontary Na- tione! Park being taken to establish a licensed Wotel, A document af pro- test to be sent to the Premier tr Bolte) was signed by a barge number of hembers, Mr. W, C. Woollard pro- Seen that the qweynbers call on the .N.G.V. executive bo take all pos- sible steps ta organize, wilh other similar dies. a mass Meeting to protest against the ahenation wf Na- tional Park lant for a luxury hotel. This broveht wuch discussion, some members being in favour of more ac- rommodation, but the motion was earried by a large majority. The subject for the evening was The Quest for Building Stones, by Dr, L, Finch, who is a research of- fuer cf the C.8.1.R,0. Dr, Finch te- called that man has for 7000 yeats used stone for shelter purposes, and he indicated the methods of stacking thers, such as bonding by pressure and with mortar, in various countries and ages, down to thesa days when £6,000,000 each year 18 spent in Ays- tralia on stonework, A geological map of Victoria show- ed sites) where materia! for buildin stones is obtained. The qualities a sandstone, limestone, granite afd basalt Were described, and the effect of rising damp on otherwise dyrable stone wes emphasized, Beautiful coloured slides, Wlustrated localities where suilable stone is ubtained, end buildings using types of stone and effective combinations of them. Nu- inerHus specimens of stones were on view, illustrating their characteris~ tics. Dr. Pinch, with hig informed en- thusiasm, brought few treating to the term “living rock’. Mr. L, H- Angior eXprested the thanks of Wembers to Dr. Fineh. Five new members, whose nomina- ~ \7¢é Club of Victoria tions were listed jin the September Naturalist, were elected, Mrs. J. J. Freame sent an exhihit af ctenophores (comb jellies) found at Altona. The secretary announced a C.A.B, apring school to be held at the Gram- plans from October 21 to October 27, Entomology and Marine Biology Group-—September 3, 1962 The September meeting was abten- ded by seventean members, In the ab- sence of Mr. Strong, Mrs. Strong acted as secretary, und Mr, A. Fair- ball took the chair. Miss V. Balaam reported on the group guting to Mrs. Les’s property at Belgrave, the purpose Of Which was to obtain materia] for the nature show, Severrl entomological speci- mens Were taken, and mambers who took part voted if a very interesting and enjoyable excursion. The lecture for the eveniie was given by Mr. Fairhall, the subject heing “Cockroaches”, He said that there were over 300 species of these in Australia, and over i000 in Europe. The interest taken in this talk was evidenced by the number of questions asked ab its conclusion. At the November group meeting, Mr. Irvine, chief entomologist of the Farests Commission, will give a lec- ture on the work being done by the Comimissxn jn its endeavour te éradicate the Sire wood-wasp, He will also teuch on other aspects of economic entomolory. Rotany Group—Atigust 9, 1962 In the absence of the group chair. man, Mr, M. K, Houghton presided at aa well-attended imesting, Further progres: was reported on the pre- paration of the eeu nature show exhibit, “Floral Emblems of Anstra- hia", for which excellent charts bad been made by Miss M. Lester, and information obtained from interstate sources by severa] members, Ty continuance of the serles on se Jected families of plants, the lecture far the evening was ziven by Mrs, VM, Salau, She had prepared five fine charts, illustrating the Liliaceae and their position in the scheme of botanical classification, Chart 1 in- Vict. Nat— Yol, 79 cluded a geological thine map |hdita- bing entry of Angiosperms—frst Di- eotyleduns then Monocotyledons—and also set out the mames of the besi~ known exotic and Victorian represen. tatives of the Lijiacese [about 250 genera and $700 spacies), Chart 2 showed the floral diagram, formula, and a typical dissected flower, chart the pollination. seeds, roots and leaves of various types, chart 4 the distribtttion snd eeonomic value of members of the lily family, and chart 5 further points of special jmterest, with diagrams of rhizemes, corms and bulbs, The talk concluded with reference to specimens on exhibit of mative Vic- torian liiaceoys plants, and slides by Mr, and Mrs. K. Cheslin and Mr. R. Morrison, Botany Group—September 13, 1962 The group members, fresh from the FWN.G.Y, nature show, im which the exhibit on floral emblerns received favourable comment, met under the chairmanship of Mr. J. A. Baines, who gave & talk on the flowers of the family Payilionaceae that are desiv- nated by the uninitiated as 'Her-and- Bacon", a confusing p that all members felt need elucidation. With the help of about thirty dif- ferent specimens and a comprehen- sive chart, the speaker jointed out some Of the wWital characters used \n__ identification of Gomphalatium (Wedge-peas), Mirbelian, Onylobium Shagey-peas), Sphaeralohium Globe-peas), Vimdinearie (Golden pray}, Dewesia (Bitter-peas), Pul- ternuea ({Bush-peas, the most numer- ous genus), Phyllote, Actes, Dill- wynie (Parrot-peas}, Goodsa (Golden Tin), Plotylobium ¢ Flat-peas), and Bagsiaza. Presence or Absence of sti- ules, bracteoles apd strophtoles was Stressed as important in separating plants superficially alike, and the need for use of hand lens woud even Microscope jn difficult diagnoses- For comparative purposes, "butterfly-shaped” flowers such as Keruedye, Hardentergta, Chorizema and Prackysenw were shown, Some of the flowers veferred tu were shown on colour slides by My. R, ‘Morrison, who also projected beautify) photographs of many wild- flowers from the Grampians, Wilson’s Promantory and remote alpine sveas, some of thew. yulte rare, Ocrabee 1962 other The meeting decided that the next graup excursion should be to Bald Hill in the Clematis district, where flowers were #rowitg in profusian during a Visit paid last year, Geolozy Group—September 5, 1462 Twenty membets were present, with Mr. L, Angior in the chair. Mr. D, MoInnes reported the vift to the eraup, by Mrs. Hansen, of the exten- sive geological collections of the late Mr. V. Hansen. Tt was decided to store thls, pendiie careful examina- tion ata future date, The secretary reported on the ex- cursion tu the Geology Section of the Wational Museum an August 11; and arrangements were made for an ex- curaigon to Anglesea, with the Geelong Field Naturalists Clob, or Septernbery 16, Mr. D. Hemmy wave a talk on “Maps and Map Making”. He stressed the importance of maps to the corn- munity, and traced the development of maps from the varliest plans of Melbourne and the state's first geo- logics] mapa to the much-improved present-day maps. He explained how serial mapping had revolutionized survey work, and gave a blackboard demonstration of the finding of ground levels from the air. To illos- trate the talk, Mr. Hemmy exhibited a0 1863 map of mining tracks in Bast Gippsland, military maps, ski cub Maps ad scout jamboree maps. Other Exhsbits: Bandstone, jade, lapis Jasvli, beryl erystals, quartz, tourmaline and mica (L, Bairnstow) > limestone from €.R,B, quarry near Quambatook, rmalacbile and quartz ervestals (R. Dodds): fossil wood, polished by members of Hawthorn Junior PUN.C. (D, McInnes}, Fauna Survey Group, August 2, 1962 Thirteen members attended the nteeting which was chaired hy Mr. N. A, Wakefield. The evening opened with an elaboration of the Glenelsr River area, by Mr, Wakefield, te gether with referenea to bane ma- terial from this lweality, lodged in the National Museum. He then oxtended this to cover new developments in the eurent examination of the favna of eweatern Victoria and concluded with & progress report on the further analysis of the Buchan area borte ina- teria]. Reports of native mammals from several country clubs were read, 7 and from Mr, K. Rogers of Wul- guimerang came a summary of his present attempts to find extensions to the range of the Rock Wallaby (Petrogale penicillatw) in Victoria. report covering the previous month's hat surveying was tabled by Mr. J. McKean, who will be leaving the group to take up a position with the C.S.1.R.0, in Canberra, The meeting concluded with a series of colour-slides demonstrating various aspects of a number of gmall pha- langerids, Colac F.N. Club This club reports a full and success- ful year, the main feature of which was increased contact with other eluke, such as Geelong. As in pre- vious years it has carried out an active bird-banding programme, de- spite-a poor breeding year for Silver Gulls In all, 185 individuals of 17 species were banded. There has alsp been activity in the spheres of geclogy, anthropology and botany, and membership is at an all-time high. Photographic Competition To stimulate and encourage interest in our wildflowers, the Native Plants Preservation Society of Victoria will, in February next, hold a photographic competition for the best colour slides oi Victorian wildflowers. : Entry: Up to five colour slides in 2 x 2 inch mounts depicting wild- flowers or plants native to Victoria, taken prefersbly in their natural habitat. Entry fee, 5/-. All slides re- turned. Awards totalling fifteen guineas may be won. by the top entries, and all slides accepted by the panel of judges will be exhibited at a public screen: ing. Now is the time to take your colour slides for “Photoflora 1963", Entries. close, Februsry 25, 1962; results notified by March 16, 1963. Entry forms and conditions available from January 14, 1963. Competition Secretary: Miss B. C, Terrell, 24 Seymour Avenue, Armadale, S.E.3. CALLING ALL Nature Select your equipment fram WAGNER'S comprehensive stocks of Exakea, Leica, er x, Praktica, ete, also celephoto lenses, close up attachments, electronic flash and accesscries. stim R. H. WAGNER & Sons Pty. Ltd. 43 Elizabeth Street (corner Flinders Lane) Telephone 62 3114 Alsa Chadstone Shopping Centre 178 Vict.. Not—Vol. 79 The Victorian Naturalist Vol. 79 (7) November, 1962 Published by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria In which is incorporated the Microscopical Society of Victoria Registered at the General Post Office, Melbourne, for transmission by post as a periodical 2/6 Boobook Owl (Ninox novae-seelandiae) This flashlight photograph, by Ronald K. Munro, appeared in the Victorian Naturalist in September 1938, accompanying an article ‘‘When Winter Comes”, by Blanche E. Miller. Although at the time several forms of this bird were given specific rank, we now combine them under the name which is given here. 190 Vict. Nat.—Vol, 719 Vol. 79 No. 7 November 8, 1962 The Victorian Naturalist Editor: NORMAN WAKEFIELD, B.SC, CONTENTS Page Articles: : Restoration of Vegetation at Tower Hill, by J, L. Martin .. .. 192 A Pattern of Correas, by Jean Galbraith .. 3 ae se .. 200 The Riddle of Our Swifts, by D. J. Noonan .. .. 4. wee BOB The Flora of Robinvale, by Evan Rowlands .. as . ee .. 206 Features: Along the By-ways: Cicadas and Spiders, Another Mueller Tree, A Colourful Toad ot 198 Field Naturalists Club of Victoria: October General Meeting, Group Meetings .. an 2. 24 .. 212 Special Group Meetings a a vs ts ‘5 L. $4 .. 214 Diary of Coming Events .. = te P4 se ao ‘Ne .. 216 Miscellaneous; Review: “Van Diemen’s Land Correspondents” .. tt ie .. 197 A.N.Z.A.A,8,. Congress—1962 = a . 4 = te .. 202 Honour to Mr, N, F, Learmonth sf as i. af bs .. 214 Front Cover: Picture of the Tender Brake, Pteris tremula, one of the many natural habitat photographs which illustrate the F.N.C.V. fern book (Ferns of Vic- toria and Tasmania, by N. A. Wakefield). The picture was taken in the Dandenong Ranges by the late W, H. Nicholls. November 1962 191 Restoration of Vegetation at Tower Hill In the booklet, What Hap- pened at Tower Hill, (July 1960), M. C. Downes of the Vic- torian Fishertes and Wildlife Department stated that “local interested societies are starting experimenting with the growing of vegetation now’. The princi- pal of these societies, co-opera- ting with the Department, is the Warrnambool] Field Naturalists Club, Valuable assistance is he- ing given also by the Warrnam- bool Field Shooters, The Koroit Boreugh Council, Mr. R. Billings and Dr, R. B. Robinson of Korsit, Koroit Apex, and the Koroit and District school chil- dretr. For the present, the planting has been limited to the islands of the nested caldera, These are some 1400 acres in extent and it will take at least 40,000 plants to replace the vegetation on them. Fortunately, since they have been isolated from grazing stock by the filling of the lake after the 1946 floods, some natural regeneration has taken place, There are approximately thirty acres of Swamp Gum (Evealyptus ovata), up to fif- teen feet high and advanced to the stare of setting seed. Smal] blackwonds (Acacia melanomy- lon) are scattered sparsely over the western half. Some she-oak (Casuarina stricta) has sur- vived, and specimens of boobi- alla (Myopormum insulare) and Kangaroo Apple (Solanum avi- 192 By J. L. Martin culere) are to be seen. Bracken, varying in height from a few inches to six feet, covers almost two-thirds of the area- Some fifteen years ago, dur- ing the period when the reserve was under the control of the Koroit Borough Council, two small areas were fenced, and eucalypts, wattles and unfor- tunately exotic pines and cypress were planted, and access tracks made, Seed from these wattles and eucalypts is being used to raise seedlings for present Planting. The shelter provided by the trees has been appreciated by the planting parties. The tracks, although badly over- grown and hoggy in winter, pro- vide the only access, In the eastern half, during the spring of 1960, the Warrnam- bool Field Shooters enclosed three small areas with rabbit- proof fencing. The Warrnam- bool Field Naturalists rotary- hoed these and 120 trees, sup- plied by the Fisheries and Wild- life Department, were planted on September 8, The idea was to find out which kinds were suituble for the locality. The species represented were Brown Mallet (Hucalyptus astrigena), Tuart (7, gomphocephala), Yel- low Gum (£._ leweoxylon). Manna Gum (BF. viminalis), Blue Gum (£. glebulus), Candle-bark Gum (&. rubida), Swamp Pa- per-bark (Melaleuca erierfolia), Prickly Paper-bark {M. stuphe- Viet, Nat-—Vol. 79 Tree-planting at Tower Hill. The peninsula (mid-picture) was planted on June 4, and She-oak on the higher parts and Coastal Tea-tree on the south-west or 1962, with Coastal Wattle far side, Field naturalists are working in the foreground. lioides), Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) and Long-Leaf Wat- tle (Acacia longifolia). On September 18, a similar lot of 120 trees was planted on a sleep slope of Lime Weslern part of the main island by Mr. F. Swindley of the Fisheries and Wildlife Department, and Dr. Robinson and Mr. R. Billings of Koroit. Despite the late planting and the following dry seasons, many of these have survived, and now some of the wattles are flowering and the paper-barks are in bud. During the spring of 1960, seed was gathered from local native trees and shrubs, a small nursery was established at my home in Warrnambool, and plants to be put out during the winter of 1961 were successfully raised. November 1962 In January 1961, the Fisheries and Wildlife Department ar- ranged with the Department of Lands and Survey for an aerial bait drop of 1080 poison to de- stroy rapbits, sO tnat Tuture planting could be carried out without the necessity of fencing. The result was almost total annihilation, and only recently has there been any sign of rab- bits on the island. By May 1961, a count of trees at the nursery revealed that we had, ready for planting, 72 Callitris cupressiformis, 218 Eucalyptus leucorylon macro- carpa (seed from a tree in the council plantation on Tower Hill), 838 EHucalyptus viminalis, 120 Hucalyptus baxteri (Brown Stringy-bark), 30 Acacia pye- nantha, 180 Acacia melanoxy- lon, 400 Leptospermum lani- 193 gerum (Woolly Tea-tree), 200 Melaleuca squarrosa (Scented Paper-bark), 30 Casuarina palu- dosa (Swamp she-oak) and small quantities of Hakea lau- rina, Boronia pinnata, Epacris impressa and Banksia margin- ata, Mr. Downes was contacted and arrangements made for planting. On May 11, Messrs. Swindley and G. Cerini of the Fisheries and Wildlife Depart- ment arrived at Warrnambool bringing with them a further 70 Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Red Gum). On the same date the suggested planting area was in- spected, a plan formulated, and the location for the various species pegged out. On the morning of the 12th, the trees were packed into transport boxes, watered, and loaded on the two utilities. On arrival at Tower Hill, they were unloaded as near as possible to their re- spective future locations. Eleven club members started planting, and worked throughout the day. The tea-trees, paper-barks, red gums and some blackwoods were planted on the northern margin of the largest island, to provide shelter for water birds. The other trees were planted in mixed groups on the slopes of the main cone arising from this margin. Evening saw us return- ing to Warrnambool to our nursery to load up in prepara- tion for the planting on the next day, Saturday, when we were expecting more helpers. We were not disappointed. Twenty-seven club members at- tended, and Dr. Robinson, Mr. Billings and his son Robert brought a boat out from Koroit. With Messrs Swindley and J. 194 Edge, they planted the south margin of the island north of the main island. The club members divided into two groups. One group, directed by Mr. Cerini, completed and extended the previous day’s planting of the slope of the cone. The other group, under my di- rection, planted a gully leading up the east side of the same cone. Mainly blackwoods were planted in the latter location, with the thought that, as some future time, ferns may be planted under their shelter, and one of the fern gullies of the early days of “The Hill” restored. In all, 1500 trees were planted. During August 1961, a group of children from the East Warr- nambool School made an inspec- tion of the greater part of these plantings and found that most trees were flourishing. In February 1962, because of a report that the trees were dy- ing, due to the exceptionally dry and hot summer, three members (Messrs Edge and F. Shirrefs, and myself) of the Field Na- turalists Club made an inspec- tion. We found the eastern group almost intact, but some trees on the northern slope were dead, and many on the water’s edge damaged, presumably by large brown snails. Traces of rabbits were noticed. The raising of trees and shrubs was continued during the latter part of 1961 and early 1962, and a selection suitable for planting in exposed positions was prepared. These were ready by June, and contact was made with the Fisheries and Wildlife Department. Their field officer, Mr. Cerini, arrived in Warrnam- Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Looking north-west from the main cone Tea-tree, planted on May 123, 1961, is thriving at the water's edge. The cone on the right was the scen bool on June 3, bringing 600 plants with him. The field naturalists out their planting on June 4, when they put out 480 trees, which they had raised, and 460 provided by the Fisheries and Wildlife Department. The hardy plants were placed on an exposed peninsula some five or six acres in extent. The other planting was on the north side of the cone dealt with in 1961, and it extended wester- ly to the pine plantation on the edge of the old quarry. District school children, or- yanized by the Koroit Apex Club and under the supervision of Mr. Cerini, planted 250 trees the following day. Of these, 110 November 1962 e of some of the planting by the Kornit schools were provided by the field na- turalists. AS there were seedling trees left on hand after these operations, a small party of field naturalists carried out a further planting on July 7. The main species planted in 1962 were; Coast Wattle (Acacia longifolia sophorae), Blackwood (Acacia melanoxy- lon), Green Wattle (Acacia de- currens), Swamp Gum (Huca- lyptus ovata), Manna Gum (Fu- calyptus viminalis), Drooping She-oak (Casuarina stricta) and Coast Tea-tree (Leptospermum laevigatum). Minor plantings were made of Blue Gum (Huca- lyptus globulus), Scarlet Flower- ing Gum (Hucalyptus ficifolia), 195 ZuuU Photos: R. Illidge. Looking down the slope of the cone planted May 12 and 13, 1961. To the left of the track is the tongue of land planted in September, Lemon-scented Gum (FKucalyp- tus citriodora), Messmate (Fu- calyptus obliqua), Coast Beard- heath (Leucopogon parviflorus), Pincushion Hakea (Hakea lau- rina), Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata), Pinnate Boronia (Boronia pinnata), Austral In- digo (Indigofera australis), Sea Box (Alyzxia buxifolia) and Slender Velvet-bush (Lasio- petalum bauert). In all, about 3090 plants have been put out. The aim has been to keep the main planting limited to species that were likely to have been represented in the original flora. Ascertaining these species provides problems, partly because much of the ori- ginal vegetation had disappeared before a survey of any type was 196 1961. made of it, and also because of the unusual composition of the soil. Although volcanic, the ground contains lime. When planting on July 7, Mr. W. Mathieson found Clematis aristata growing in the shelter of the Swamp Gums. As soon as the trees which have been plan- ted grow high enough to provide shelter for undergrowth, there is every likelihood that more native plants will re-establish themselves. Rabbits and the danger of fire are problems to be overcome. There are bound to be failures but, with increasing interest, the time should come when Tower Hill, one of our greatest natural wonders, will be restored to its former scenic beauty. Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Review: ‘** Van Diemen’s Land Correspondents ”’ Botanists, especially those interes- ted in systematics and botanical no- menclature, often have reason to con- sider the origin of the names given to plants and, in doing so, can quite easily become involved in_ studies somewhat removed from botany. They are apt to find themselves browsing in the rich fields of biography, clas- sical literature, geography, sociology and in innumerable other by-ways. Specific epithets are a fecund source from which such incursions can be made. In the Census of Victorian Plants we can see the epithet “gunnii” ap- plied to an Asperula, a Cladium, a Chiloglottis, a Helichrysum, a Pul- tenaea, a Phyllanthus and a Fuca- lyptus and, at one time to a Richea, while the form “gunniana” is at- tached to a Baeckea, a Carex, a Ra- nunevlus and, formerly, to an Olearia. Those interested enough would soon find out who Gunn was, but it has re- mained for Messrs. T. E. Burns and J. R. Kemp to attempt to bring him to us as a living being—a man of his time—and they have made the at- tempt by publishing a long series of his letters written during the period 1827-1849 to friends and acquain- tances in England. Most of the letters are addressed to Sir William Hooker, with whom Gunn established a firm and fruitful friend- ship but, for two reasons, the letters lose much of their value as a means of telling a story of the life and times of the friends, The replies by Hooker {and by the other correspondents) to Gunn's letters are evidently not avail- able, so the patient reader gets not much more than half the picture. This reviewer, being a more or less patient individual, read them all con- a anOBels: and completed the task with the strong feeling that the ma- terial might have been applied to the udvantage of the general reader had it been used as the source for a co- herent story of Gunn and his contem- poraries, As the letters are published in No. 14 (New Series) of the Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, Laun- November 1962 ceston, one may suppose it is inten- ded for the general reader, although the generality will be somewhat re- stricted by the fact that only 1200 copies have been printed. However, the material is there, assembled in a form which will make a lot easier the task of any further story teller. One feels that Gunn’s dealings with the unscrupulous T. K. Short would make a good cautionary tale and that his observations on the character and personality of the “imposter and literary pirate”, Dr. Lhotsky, merit some study. The letters make no referernce to Gunn's meeting with Hooker, when the latter visited Van Diemen’s Land in 1840, which only goes to show that they are not by any means a diary of important occasions and events in the life of the writer. Nevertheless, they are of undoubted archival value, and the short general index at the end of the book may help in the task of se- lecting for perusal those which deal with matters which one might con- sider to be of especial interest, The book is a 10” x 74”, and very creditably produced by the Tasmanian Government Printer. It includes a sketch map showing the areas of Tas- mania covered by Gunn in his search tor new and rare plants, a tull page reproduction of portraits of each Sir W. J. Hooker and Gunn—that of the latter by the very talented convict, T. G. Wainwright—and a facsimile of each a letter and a letter cover. Finally, one should not fail to men- tion the thoughtful preface by the Honourable E,. E. Reece, M.H.A., Premier of Tasmania, the good intro- duction by Professor H. N. Barber, the editorial note by Mr. Frank Ellis, Director of the Museum, and Mr. W. Baulch’s biographical sketch of Ronald Campbell Gunn, F-.R.S:, F.L.S. Each contributor adds to the value of this special volume of the Records of the Queen Victoria Mu- seum, to which institution we are grateful for the copy now included in the library of the F.N.C.V. —J. R. GARNET 197 With-the E These columns are available ditor . £ar pte each month for your nature notes and queries. Address your correspondence to the Editor, “Victorian Naturalist’, P.O. Box Cicadas and Spiders In the report of the F.N.C.V. general meeting of January this year (Vict. Nat., Vol. 78, p. 309) there is a note that, amongst the pictures screened, were “four slides illustrating the emergence and death of a cicada—the vic- tim of a huge spider’. Something similar had been reported by a junior club member, David Allan, of Mallacoota in East Gippsland. On October 10, 1961, David wrote this: Last night we went cicada hunting in the school ground, There we found a big spider about three inches across; it had a cicada by the neck. The cieada had been climbing the tree to split its shell. Now, Mr. E. Byrne, lecturer in nature study at the Toorak Teachers’ College, has produced these observations and comments on the same subject: 198 21, Noble Park, Victoria. Several years ago, while camping at Yarra Junction, by the Little Yarra River, I had rather a unique ex- perience while observing the emer- gence of a number of small black cicadas from their nymphal shells. Quite large numbers of these cicadas were emerging from the ground and making their way up the outside walls of a slab hut which served as a kitchen for our Boys’ Brigade Camp. It was a day or two after Christmas and the weather was hot but not uncom- fortably so. Scores of cicadas in various stages of emergence were seen and, wishing to observe the whole withdrawal pro- cess, | picked up a nymph which as vet showed no signs of a split in its coat and tried to hook its legs in the rough bark of the hut wall at a convenient height for observation. The particular position I chose was near the corner of the hut and you can imagine my surprise when a large huntsman spider suddenly dashed around from behind the bark, seized the cicada from my fingers and dis- appeared whence it came—and just as quickly. Several boys were with me at the time and, after the initial excitement of the event passed, there was much Vict Nat.—Vol. 79 speculation as to whether the spider had “heard” the cicada’s claws scratching at the bark, Certainly, from the direction it came, it was quite im- possible for the spider to have seen the cicada. It seemed to me that the type of reaction was similar to that observed when web-spinning spiders respond to the vibrations set up by the struggles of an ensnared victim. If it was actually a response to vibration, then a spider must be extraordinarily sen- sitive to detect the slight movements through the thick bark. Perhaps hunting by sight is not as important to these huntsman spiders as we might think, and they may actually rely as much or more on the technique we observed. When these reports were dis- cussed with Mr. Alex Burns, Keeper of Insects at the National Museum of Victoria, he com- mented that he had not previous- ly heard of huntsman spiders preying upon cicadas. Apparent- ly the habit is not uncommon, but simply one of those things that nobody has reported be- fore. Another Mueller Tree Mr. A. K. Parkin took the ac- companying photograph, about which he makes this comment: Some time ago, publicity was given to the fact that the only tree reputed to have been planted by Baron von Mueller in the grounds of the Mel- bourne University, was in danger of destruction to make way for exten- sions to the Engineering School. How- ever, it is pleasing to note that alter- native arrangements were made and that the tree, a Spotted Gum, still stands, minus a couple of limbs. Mueller’s Spotted Gum, Melbourne University, November 1962 A Colourful] Toad Children brought me a_ toadlet, which Mr. Norman McCance identified as Pseudophryne bibronii. It is a little beauty, apparently not uncommon, for Mr. McCance describes it as “a pic- turesque little amphibian which I used to collect along the bush tracks at Launching Place’’. It is barely an inch long, its lumpy little back pat- terned in black and green, under-limbs orange-red, abdomen blue. I have in- stalled it under a hollow stone by the pond and hope it consents to live there and eat the slaters which are all too abundant. —JEAN GALBRAITH Note: Material for these columns has run out. Your con- tributions are needed if the fea- ture is to continue. 199 A Pattern of Correas When discussing the distribu- tion of species of Correa with Mr. W. Cane of Maffra, I was struck by the interesting pattern of their distribution in Gipps- land, forming one might say a gigantic patchwork quilt over eastern Victoria. The notes that follow are the result of our com- bined observations — the in- teresting central strip from the Macallister River east to the coast being entirely Mr. Cane’s contribution, though I am in- debted to him for confirmation or elaboration of my own notes on other areas also. There is an intermittent coas- tal fringe of White Correa (C. alba): the typical form with leaves almost glabrous above, with one ‘‘island” of it some dis- tance up the Mitchell River, and within that coastal fringe there is a strip (roughly thirty miles wide) of Correa reflexa var. cardinalis, the most brilliant cor- rea of them all. This grows in the sandy heathlands adjoining the coast, from at least as far north as Bateman’s Bay in New South Wales down to Mallacoota and round the southern coast as far as Hedley, near Wilson’s Promontory. This “stream” of Cardinal Correa is divided by the Strzlecki Ranges, and what one might call a_ tributory stream runs along the northern foothills of the Strzleckis in the sandy heathlands from Rosedale to Traralgon South, which ap- pears to be its most western occurrence. Beyond Hedley, it is replaced by the large-flowered red form 200 By JEAN GALBRAITH of C. reflexa var. reflexa, which grows at Yanakie on Wilson’s Promontory. Beyond Traralgon South the northern stream of variety cardinalis ceases abrupt- ly and I know of no C. reflexa of any kind farther east in the Latrobe Valley. Parallel to the stream of C. reflexa var. cardinalis which comes down from Bateman’s Bay (or farther north) there is a broad strip of the red-flowered C. reflexa var. reflexa, tall-grow- ing and robust. This follows approximately the same line as the other variety but is farther inland and stops completely at Mount Taylor just east of the Mitchell River. From the west bank of the Mitchell, the stream of var. reflexa continues west- ward to the eastern slope of the Aberfeldy - Macallister water- shed, but here (Mitchell to Mac- allister) it has green or whitish- green flowers though in no other way differing from the var. re- flexa farther east. This “var. reflexa_ strip” reaches some distance up the slopes of the Australian Alps, but as soon as the country be- comes really mountainous, it is replaced by Mountain Correa (C. lawrenciana), which takes over at the northern extreme of C. reflexa, and also replaces that species on the western slope of the Macallister-Aberfeldy water- shed. C. reflexa (green form) appears again in the Dande- nongs and in the sandy heath- lands round Port Phillip Bay, while C. lawrenciana continues north of it (at Marysville, etc.). Vict. Nat.—Vol, 79 Just as C, reflexa var. reflexa is uniformly red-flowered east of the Mitchell River, and green west of the Mitchell, so is C, jawrenciana, but the red-flower- ed C, lawrencidna runs a little farther west to the Freestone Greek and Castle Hill, beyund which it is wholly green. How- ever the Castle Hill Mountain Correa is yery distinct from the form that grows east of the Mitchell, It has large ovate to eordate leaves and seems to agree exactly with the descrip- tion of C. lawrenciana var. cor- difolia Wilson, of south-eastern New South Wales. The patttern of these strips (working north from the coast: C, alha, GC. veflexa cardinalis, C. reflera refleza, C. lawrenciena) is quite clear-cut but of course over-simplified in that the strips are broken by patches where no correa grows at all. No species of any plant is absolutely con- tinuous over the whole country- side, but in the entire area des- cribed there is no intermingling of these species and varieties ex- cept in one remarkable “island” of between ane and two acrés, at Briagolong near Freestone Creek; and two solitary and distinctive plants within a quar- ter of a mile of jt, This island of obvious hybrids, shown to mé by Mr. Cane, and the two solitary plants, were found by him. The small mixed population at. Briagolong occurs where the green-flowered form of ©. reflexa refieza meets the red-flowered C. refleza car- dinalis, and in this place there is eyery imaginable variation of leaf between the broad rough leaf of yar, *eflexa and the nar- row leaf, sntaoth ahove, of var, Navember 1962 cardinalis, and these are vari- ously combined with red, green, cream, tvory and white flowers. All the bushes are dwarf, The two isolated planta are even more remarkable, Both are now propagated as “Clearview Giant” and “Clearview Rose”, and as I have no other méana of referring to them I shall use those names at present. “Clear- view Giant" has an extraordina- rily large bell, bright red, tipped yellow, and, apart from the size of the bell, is a typical red- flowered C. reflexa rvefleza, but it is remarkable as the one known red-flowered plant in a wholly green-flowéred area. “Clesrview Rose is a tall bush growing amongst rocks, and has the habit and foliage of var, reflera, but is remarkable in that the thin, zreen, glabrous, deeply-lobed calyx is almust that of C. demula of western Vic- toria. The flowér Is clear Soft translocent pink, and does not split in the way characteristic of C. aemuia, Careful search has failed to reveal another plant. One wonders whether a some- what similar plant provided the record by &, BH. Freseutt, of aemula near Orbost. In this general survey of the Gippsland pattern of Correa I have left out one, On the Strzlecki Ranges, where one would expect to find Mountsin Correa at an altitude corres- ponding to that of its occurrence in the Australian Alps, that species does £row, but a form of it (collected by G. Marshall and E. Faisst of the Latrobe Valley F.N.G.) which seems to be quite unlike any variety so far des- cribed. The leaves are varrow- 201 lanceolate, about.3 inches long and + inch wide, strikingly (and equally} narrowed to each end. There was no flower on either apecimen, but a solitary green bud had a peduncle about + inch long and a pedicel about 4 inch, both brownish woolly, with the bracts some distance below the base of the pedicel, and the rusty calvx deeply cleft {more than half-way to the base) into, lan- ceolate lobes. There was at one time a very small island of the red form of CG. reflera veflexe in the hills north of Tyers. It consisted of a very few plants—the only known ©. reflexa anywhere in the Tyera hills, but it has now disappeared as a result of log- ing in the area, Thinking that a change in the geological formation might ac- count for the change from red to green in both C. reflexa re- flexa and C. lawrenciana at the Mitchell River I entjuired about the formations there, but a full and interesting report from Dr, W. Thomas of the Geological Survey contained no Indication of any differences at this point that could account for it, A.N,Z.A.A.S. Congress — 1962 This yesv the thirty-sixth anual congress also celebrated the seyenty- fifth jubilee of the Association, The location was the University of Syd- ney, and the arrangements were as well carried out as Usual, The university, being only a ten- ntinute bus vide from the city centre was particularly convenient for dele- gates, and Sydney wag an excellent centre for the Various excursions into the besvtiful New South Wales oountryside, The presidential addresses were all given ta packed sudiences and ap- pealed to the intelligent layman equally as well as bo the scientist. There Werte sixteen sections, and the protrammes Were arranged so that one could usually attend the address af one's choice, although those whose interests were not confined to one particular braneh of selence sorne- times had difficulty in choosing be- tween two attractive programmes. A featice of the evening sessions was the unusual and attractive set- ting of the Great Hall of the Univer- sity, This very fine building dates from 1857 and is built in » style similar to Westoinster Hall in Lan- doo, The ceiling is noted for its mag- nificent ¢eday carvings—representing grammar, dialectic, pogtry, arith- 202 metic, geometry, astronomy, ethics, physics, metaphysics; thealogy, medi- eine and Jaw. These carvings are each lit by three pas jets, so that. when the room is darkened by turning off the ordinary electric lighting the effect of these tiny triple flares is very beautiful. The windows are made of stained glass; there sre eleven of them, each containing three portraits of people famous in English history, science or literature, Of special Pleasure to the lady mewbers and wives attending the congress was the wonderful hos- pitality offered by the wives af the university staff. Interesting drives were arranged and layish teals pro- vided in private homes. Indeed, if a lady had no scientific interest what- ever, she could have had a delightful holiday just by accepting one af the many invitations offered ench day. The A.N.Z.A.A.5, meetings, es- pecially if advantage is taken of the pre- and post-sessional excursions, should be of great appeal to field naturalists and, if accommodation in the colleges is chosen, need not be’ ex- pensive, Phe next congress takes place at Canberra, in March 1964; one of the excursions is to be to the Snowy Mountains aren. —L, M. M, Beapnrin Viet Nar—Vol. 79 The Riddle of our Swifts By D. J. NOONAN Figure 1: Swift found at Cape Nelson, Spine-tailed Although swifts are quite well known to the average person in- terested in birds, yet very little is known about their habits. They sre indocd inysiery birds; they seem to come from no- where just prior to a change in the weather during the hot sul- try conditions of summer; they may then be seen in hundreds, then, just as quickly, they vanish. They may be seen once or twice again that summer or perhaps not until the following year. They are always on the wing; they never seem to alight on tree or cliff, yet they appear to expend tremendous energy, such is the pace at which they fly. November ]962 What then is known about these birds? There are two spe- cies of swift which occur in Aus- tralia—the Foark-taile Swiit (Micropus pacificus) and the Spine-tailed Swift (Hirundapus caudacutus). They are both mi- grants; they breed in the North- ern Hemisphere and come to Australia only during our sum- mer months. Swifts have been seen in Australia from October to April; in Victoria, they are most commonly seen during January, February and March. In Victoria, by far the more common species is the Spine- tailed Swift, particularly in the eastern half of the state. The Fork-tailed species seems to fa- 203 vour the interior of Australia and is usually only seen in Vic- toria during extremely hot, north-windy weather. The fork- tailed bird is the smaller of the two species; it has a fairly long tail which is slightly forked at the end; there is a large white patch above the rump. Other- wise it appears as a darkish- coloured bird. The flight is fast, buoyant and fluttering, not un- like that of a swallow, although the swift is bigger and faster. The spine-tailed species is considerably bigger; its tail is much shorter and square-cut; there is a large white patch under the tail, a line of white along the flanks and a conspicu- ous white throat. As is de- monstrated by the photograph (Fig. 1) there is also a patch of white at the base of either wing, but this is not so obvious from below. This species, too, ap- pears as a dark brown or even black bird when seen overhead. The flight appears far stronger and more purposeful than in the other species. At times it can almost be mistaken for the Little Falcon as it makes a long 204 Figure 2: Feet of the Spine-tailed Swift raking dive across the tree-tops. It can fairly safely be concluded that swifts seen east of Mel- ‘bourne will be of this species unless the weather is hot and windy. The birds are wonderfully adapted to their life in the air; they present an extremely streamlined appearance, with long slender wings and _ bullet- shaped body. The eyes are set well back in the head, to afford protection against the wind. In common with the frogmouths and nightjars, to which they are related, swifts have — short, broad beaks—adapted to the taking of insects on the wing. Surprisingly enough, the legs, though short, are quite sturdy and the claws are quite long and muscular (Fig, 2). As may be seen from the third photograph (Fig. 3) the ribs of the tail feathers extend about a quarter- inch beyond the feathers. It is believed that the birds use these spines as a support when roost- ing on cliff or tree. When at rest they cling rather than perch in the manner of most birds. At present there is a survey group associated with the Vic- torian Ornithological Research Group interested in trying to clear up some of the mystery surrounding the habits of these birds. The problem of where the swifts spend the night has long troubled the ornithologists. Do they stay the whole night on the wing, as the males of the Eng- lish swift do during the breed- ing season? If they alight, do Vict. Not.—Vol, 79 they roost on cliffs or on trees? Do they roost in large concen- trations, singly, or in pairs? If thev roost in trees, is it living or dead trees? If living trees, is it the outer foliage to which they cling, or is it the main trunk? Do they roost wherever they happen to be when darkness falls, or do they hark back to the same locality each night? Similarly, do the birds re- main in much the same localities whilst they are in Australia, or do they wander over the whole country? Do they follow the recurring meteorological de- pressions, as one observer be- lieves, or is it that they are around all the time but, because of the height at which they fly, are simply not seen? Most peo- ple see swifts only prior to a weather change, but perhaps this is due more to the fact that myriads of insects often emerge in these warm, humid conditions. Observations (on the Spine-tailed Swift) suggest that over the mountainous country, the birds are to be seen in the Same area nearly every day dur- ing the summer months. reoard less of the weather. There are many more prob- lems associated with these birds. At the moment we know very little of the migration route be- tween Australia and their breed- ing areas of the Northern Hem- isphere. We know that both species have a very extensive breeding range, which takes in Japan, Mongolia, Manchuria, and much of Siberia, but we Figure 3: Tail of the Spine-tailed Swift. November 1962 know little of what course they follow between these places and Australia, or even at what point they enter Australia. Again, how often and where do the birds drink? What types of insects to they take? How many thousands of birds visit Australia each year? These are some of the many questions we hope to answer. It may be that certain readers of this article know some of the answers. If you do, we should certainly wel- come hearing from you. On the other hand interested natura- lists may care to help by keep- ing records of swifts that are seen. Species, date, time of day, numbers, flight direction and weather conditions, should be recorded, also any unusual or interesting behaviour. Some may care to join our study group. Information or enquiries should be addressed to the writer, at Mitcham Road, Don- vale, Victoria, [The three accompanying photo- graphs were taken by Mr. B. E. Carthew of Portland, of a bird, ap- parently uninjured but unable to fly, found by Mr. J. Newton neer Pridec- water, south-western Victoria, in March this year. ] 205 The Flora of Robinvale In 1937, W. J. Zimmer pub- lished Flora of the Far North West of Victoria (1), a compre- hensive study of the vegetation types and their relation to soil types. The locality discussed by Zimmer covered some _ four thousand square miles, west from Hattah to the South Aus- tralian border and north and east of this to the Murray River. This article presents some ob- servations from an _ adjacent area of one hundred and seventy square miles, south of the fast- developing settlement of Robin- vale. The two areas are shown in Map 1. Much of the Robinvale area has been cleared in recent years and the remaining indigenous flora is being removed daily. Since no more than passing ref- erences to the original flora exist in the literature, this ar- ticle records something of the botanical features of the area while they still exist. The climate differs little from that of the Hattah-Mildura area, the mean annual rainfall be- ing an unreliable 11.64 inches (Mildura—10.70 ins.; Hattah— 12.01 ins.), with a slight winter maximum. The summer is hot and dry, the winter mild and sunny. Long hours of cloudless sunshine with high tempera- tures and low humidities en- courage a high evaporation rate. It is not surprising then that the vegetation is practically identical to that in the area des- cribed by Zimmer. Because of this, the area being examined is 206 By EvAN ROWLANDS discussed in terms of Zimmer's defined vegetation types. The general description of each, given by Zimmer, applies also to the corresponding Robinvale type and, in this article, only differences which have been noted between features des- cribed by Zimmer and the analo- gous Robinvale type will be dis- cussed. In particular, the nine- teen species recorded by the author around Robinvale and not listed by Zimmer in the North West, will be examined. It seems likely that in most cases these species do exist in Zimmer’s area but were over- looked by him. Map 2 shows the exact loca- tion of notable species as well as existing areas of the various types of vegetation known to me. From the fragmentary areas of vegetation left, the original vegetation distribu- tion has been theoretically de- termined. Zimmer demonstra- ted approximately east-west parallel bands of vegetation types, grading from the Box Flats of the Murray, south through Tall Mallee and thence through a band of Small Mallee to Stunted Mallee at the latitude of Hattah (see Map 1). This vegetation sequence is consis- tent with the evidence at Robin- vale, where the succession of types encountered when moving south from the River is the same. The Pine-Belar-Buloke type is seen to occur as pockets, rather than bands, in both areas. Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 A discussion of each of the Robinvale types follows ;— Type 1; Box FLAt AREAS These are areas confined with- in the limits of the high-fiood- level of the river and charac- terized by majestic Red Gums (Fucalyptus cameaidulensis) along the permanent water- course, with Black Box (2. largiflorens) and Lignum (Mueklenbechia cunningham) scattered over the flodd-plain, The prolific blue hells of Cephelostiqma flaminale can be seen almost anywhere along the river in this area, Zimmer cer- tainly overlooked it, since it is found throughout the Kullkyne. J. M, Black (2,—p. 809) gives thé erroneous impression that the plant is rare, claiming to have seen only the type speci- men and another callected at Mannum, South Australia, and quotes no other Australian oc- currence, In season, the white daisy, Brachycome basaltica var. ovacilis is quite spectacu- lar; together with its more de- mure associates, Swamp Dock {Rumex brown?) and Trailing Knoteced (Fulygonwm prostra- fum), it is plentiful along the river behind the Robinvale Co- operative, but was not noticed by Zimmer, Likewise the incon- spicuous and wuneommon Cy- perus victoriensis, found grow- ing west of the Robinvale bridge, was not recorded for the far North-west, Zimmer did not claim to deal extensively with the Gramineae, but the author has recorded the cammon Summer Grass ( Digit- arin sanguinalis), as well as the first certain record for northern Victoria of the Awnless Barn- Novernber | 962 yard Grass (Echinochlow colv- nun), neither of which was re- corded by Zimmer. Type 2; Prne-BELAR-BULOKE ABEAS Distinetive stands of Cypress Pines (Callitris wreiseii and C. propingua) and Belar (Casua- vina cristata), with their tall trees of grey and green, whis- pering even on the atillest of days, provide a stimulating change tor the naturalist wan- dering into them from the monotony of the Mallee. Every now and then, the amateur botanist is encouraged by an unusual find. Here, a mystery Acacia, defying various botanical keys, rewarded the author. Superficially resembling Acacia homalophylia, its broad pod and transverse seeds show it to be closely related to JA. pendula. The National Her- barium of Victoria has similar material, but with wider phyl- lodes, from New South Wales and Gosehen, Victoria; it may yet prove to be a new species, In addition, Sur Velleia {Velieia paradorza) has been re- corded here, but was not collec- ted by Zimmer. The Desert Jas- mine (Jasinteum lineare), an uncommon plant in Victoria, has been recorded by me two miles on the New South Wales side of Robinvale, but has not been seen in this urea. It ig sur- prising to find only one stand of Buloke (Casuarina lewhimanit) in the area (see Map 2). Type 3: TALL MALLEE From remnants of the orig- inal vegetation, it js apparent that most of the ares was originally occupied by Mallee 207 ‘aalnada ayqRjOU JO UOLWEIG, Jouxa AurAoys wory aywaurqoy Byy Fo dz uommesaA—z dep /oopeg *(aAWMWIZ “Cf AA JO FAQ) BO paseq) RWOFLA AM YWON BY 10F dey voressaA—yT dey saioqy ieploupusc wy tunu37eayy sy) (watavsysza rydury ) sured ysagres [F. Jeureyd ysoqazes 7a! Soefd psn h tes ZZ airy wer OO 22q)%y parwnrg Lxal sejag pur omg KY 2771" W TFS sop G ———y 3 aIPS yh) yoo ~ ~sNY *. ye1aPH S3vM Hinos aN peorgayzeddy g4av moj7q SeAvpuUneg Uoryeyabay Kpnjys sty, ur passnrsip <8! mojaq umoys Poy . | ti Tauunz kg parpnys som asm ay? 02 eaiy “=r or +,” \" oo Reena - 719 Vict. Nat,—Vol. ZIG JQuaBAoHY CM NM H Fw 602 Pimelea mierocephala Acacia pendula (?) Calytrix telragona Nicoltana goadépeedis Tay sanotus baveri Halganta Javandulacia Prostanthera micraphy lla 10. Cephalostigma fluminale ai, Cyperus victortensts 12. Codonocarpus cotcnif olivs i, Stipa tucker i#. Echinocloa colonum is. Templetonia sulcala —s om. Hypethesised Toll Mallee / Small Mallee boundary -—— Hyenthesi sed Imall Matlee/ Stented Mallee boundary Seale ~- <—imiles + Murray River Ts Hattah Za —— =a J ff Wemen 4 afot Acacia brachybotrya var glabra (11) Morgania floribunda -(5 stamens) (— Neh ; =o i it Ss , ~~ w ‘ + \ Lake Canal RE : x : ~ Lae 1 he ke * \4) Ld & Murray, Walley 4) j . \th : (7) \ ' | * 5) = Red Gum - Black Bex Pine and Befar HAH Tall Mallee Small Mallee Stunted Mallee ay .. 1) fa >) ry ‘ tu! — 3 + Bannerton Te Suan Hill — ; ! 4 Casvarina4 {ev hm anit - ay | A | ie 2 | A ey 21 aNNS ™m Ef] K = NS ors Tan 3. ! oid \ FIR iqhe mM, \ = ~ (Bucalyptus dumosa, B, ofeosa, EB, inevaseata) aid thelr varied shrub understorey, Clearing of the land has removed almost all the original flora but neverthe- less it has been possible to make some interesting discoveries in that which remains. It is worth noting that the uncommon Austral Doubsh (Marsdenie australis), Flat Templetonia (Templetoniu sul- cata) and Small-head fice- flower (Pimelea microcephala) oecur in this area, The Desert Rose Mallow (Hibiscus /for- ragei), known from Bolton, @ few miles south, has been seen by me six miles north of Robin- vale, and although as vel wnre- corded, it could well occur in the study area, It was in this vege- tation type that [ collected the first Victorian specimen of Niea- Hana goodspeedii in February 1960 (Victorian Natwrulist, Vol. 78, pp, 10-11, May, 1961) and in June 1961, the second Victorian record of the Spear-grass (Stipa fuckers). About an acre of this grass exists In a water reserve, and since this is entirely sur- rounded by cleared land, it is in- teresting to speculate as to how widespread the species was originally in this area. S. tucker is known from western New South Wales and from south- west of Lake Fromme in South Australia—areas rather more hot and arid than Robinvale. The Desert Googefoot (Chene- pediwm desertorum), another species not recorded by Zimmer, also occurs here- Type 4: SMALL MALLE AND PORCUPINE GRASS When the red sandy loam gives way {0 brown-yellow 216 sands, tree growth becomes much reduced in height and Porcupine Grass (Tvindia), a haven for scampering lizards and other small animals, oeen- pies much of the otherwise bare soil surface. Characteristically, the white-blossomed Green Tea- tree (Leptospermum coria- ceum), the greenish-blue of the Mallee Cypress Pine ((Callitris verrucesa} and the Desert Gre- villea (Grevillea pterasperma) appear. It is strange that Zimmer did not record Acacia byroeann, sinee it is plentiful around Reb- invale. The same can be said of the Twiggy Guinea-flower (Hib. bertia wtrgaia var. crassifolia). Occasional specimens of the Common Fringe-myrtie (Caly- iviz tetragena) are found in this association, but Zimmer did not record it and commented that the arid sands from Hattah toa the South Australian border had probably prevented it entering the area from the south, The National Herbarium has speci- mens from Ouyen and Hattah, bat it is ebvieusly uncommon in this part of the state, A puzzling Acacia, A, bracky- botrya var. glabra is represen- ted in the area by no more than half a dozen plants (see Map 2). It is distinguished from the typical A. brachybotrya by its completely glabrous nature, its slender, graceful form ar. its long peduncles, The National Herbarium possesses similar material from Berrigan, New South Wales, and several other localities. Sma/fl-leaf Mint-bush (Prostanthara microphylla) also occurs here and was nob re- corded by Zimmer. Viet. Nat—Vol. 79 Type 5: STUNTED MALLEE AND PORCUPINE GRASS If one stops the car two miles south of Bannerton on the Man- angatang road, walks over the railway line and two hundred yards to the west, one is amongst sharply undulating sand-hills. There, surrounded by virgin mallee, with the guiet- ness broken only by bird-calls and a gentle breeze, civilization seems very remote, and the fas- cination of the explorer is aroused, The rarer plants are already at hand—Slaty She-oak (Casuarina muelleriana), Flex- ile Hakea (Hakea flezilia), Mallee Fringe-lily (Thiysanotus bauer?) and the beautiful yellow stars of the Desert Phebalium (Phebalium glandulosunt var. bullatwn) for which Robinvale is the type locality. There too, in good seasons, beneath the tes- tree, greenhood orchids (Pteio- stylis sp.) and Fringed Spider- orchids (Caladenia dilatata) are quite plentiful; In August, the short-leaved and spiny Silky Cryptandra (Cryptandra pro- pingua var: grandiflora) bursts into a cover of small pink bells, and Nicotiana velutina raises a White raceme. Neither of the latter two was recorded by Zimmer. . ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author ig grateful to the staff of the National Herbarium of Vic- joria, who courteously and efficiently identified and commented upon many Specimens, REFERENCES 1, Zimmer, W. J., Flora of the Fay North West of Victoria;—Forests Commission of Victoria, Bulletin No. 2, Ed.2., 1946. Z. Black, J. M., Flore of South. Aus- trahia—Eqd.2, Parts i-iv, 1957, The camera for the scientific photographer MICRO — MACRO... ULTRA CLOSE-UP AND TELEPHOTO A complete selection of accessories and interchangeable lenses gives you tremendous scope with the PENTAX Single Lens Reflex Comera. Elever ~ superb Tokurnar Lenses—among the finest in the world todéy—range from 35 mm, wide angle to 1,000 mm, extrame felephofo. bellows Accessories include units, clise-up lenses, extension tubes and rings, copy stands, microscope adap- tor—all that's needed for the sclen- tist photographer, PENTAX . . , Japan's. largest selling single lens reflex ¢amerq, Three models ovailable—priced from £65. asant PENTAX is perrection November 1962 217 a i Field Naturalists General Meeting—October 8, 1962 The National Herburium hall wag almost fall at the mesting chaired by the president, Mr. M. K. Houghton. visitor from Middleburg, Pennsyl- vania, Miss I, Holland, was welcomed, The secretary orted that the Burrier (Broken Hill) ¥\N.C. is ar- ranging @ plane trip to the Burke and Wills "Dig" tree at Cooper's Creek, to do what can be done to save it [rom termites, efsion and vandals, They have asked for help to defray ex- peoses. Mr. Hovghton wil] be a mem- her of the party. Mr. G. T, Thompson, Direetor of the Natural Resources Conservation League, 8 member of the National Parks Authority and former Chair- mah of the Soil Conservation Authority, gave an illustrated address on “National Parke In U.S.A, and Victoria”, He pointed out that Alis- tralia has no national parks, all aur zo-called national parks bhemg or- vanized at the state level, as are many well-known parks In U-S.A., such as Niagara Falls. He showed photos of severul well-known parks, and of the tlades of Californian Redwoods, pur- vhased for pasterity by the Save the Redwoods League for 16 million dollars. He als& showed pictures of bears climbing over cars at Yellow- stone Park, and of “Chester”, the eagle of Wilson's Promontory, He mentioned that in U.S.A_ @ elear dis tinetioh was (Yawn between parks vet aside for conservation, and thase get aside for the recreation of the people. In U.S.A,, Mount Butfalo would probably be placed in this second Category. . Sh response to a question about the Promontory, he said that the Au- thority was definitely Opposed to any building on Pillar Point, and also to the alienation of the area at first sought—50 acres. However, he Zelt that an area of about 10 screa near Bishop's Rock would probably be made available to private enterprise, with the approval of the Authority- On behalt of the members, the resident thanked Mx. Thompson for js very inbereatine talk. Mr, F. R, Lublin suggested that maps of the national parks would he helpful; and Mr. R. Pitt pointed cut 212 Club of Victoria the value of nature trails or self-con- ducted tours in parks following direc- tion notices, Thirteen new members, | whose nominations appeal’ in the October Notirulist, Were elected. Mrs. Daisy Wood brought. Cale- denia flawentosa from Edenhope; Miss P. Carolan, Eucalyptus regress from Stony Creek valley, Macedon; Mr. H, Haase, garden-grown wara- tahs: and Me. A. Parkin a hermaphra- dite Early Nancy (Angelane divies) , aupne Survey Group—September 6, Twelve members and visitors were present, with Me. N. A. Wakefield in the chair, At this meeting, a con- siderable rumber of reports on the wildlife in different parts of the state were made, including some cominent on the Ozenkadnook “monster”, A qWaster-east made from a foot-print left by the anlinal was exhibited and compared with that of a large dames- tic dog. The two were essentially similar, and tb weoukl seem that this “monster is nothing more than a very lirge dog zone wild, Mr. Wakefield reported the success- ful completion of a trip lo the Buchan area and the collection of additional bone material, and he gave aw oculline oi the proposed tines of research he intends (0 carry out with this vast amount of skeletal refnains. Mr. J. McCallum spoke to the eroun on the recent investigation of Water- house Island in the search for spect- mens Of Axtechinum minimne. The greater part of the Habitat on the island has been destroyed and the quest was in yain, However, the island proved rich in tird life, the most notable items being a reckery area of Short+tailed Shearwaters (Puffinue tonauirostris), Little Penguins (Budyp- tula minor) in their nesting burrows, and large flocks of Double-banded Dotterels (Choradirins bicinetus)- Lizards and snakes abounded, the Tiger Snake (Noteckis scutatas iger} and six species or skinks of the genera Epopkenets and Byernta being recorded, including the first vecord of Lygosume bougainvilics for Tasmahia. Vict. Nat—Val, 79 Boulans Group—Oetober J1, 1962 The chairman (ifr, J, A, Raines) yeceived apologies from a nuuber of members, bui those who sthended Were rewarded by an excellent lecture om the Gramineae by Miss Alison Hooke, who had numerous spevimens ef various speries of grasses in ad- dition to a diagrammatic explanatory chart. A useful innovation was the distribution tq those present of a typical grass specimen, the spikelets of which were closely examined to distinguish the florsl parts. Awns, nodes, sheaths and tigules were also observed. Reference was made to the world total of 10,009 species of grasses, including Lhe well-known cereals and the very large grasses known as sugar-cane and bambswo. Miss. Hooke brought out the dis- tinctions that differentiate the sedges and club-rushes (Cyperucezé) and the rushes (Juncaceae) from the Grasses (Gramineae). lt way derided, after the showing af some colour slides, that the next, meeting Would be a members’ niglit, followed by a slide and film night for the December nieeting, and that there would be no January meeting. The grouys has recommended the Purchase Of some Hew bouks for the club library, and a sub-pommittee of four members will have a continuing role aroting books desirable for ac- quisition. The group’s vecent excursigiH to Bald Hill, Clematis, was thoroughly enjoyed, many species of wildflowers being noted. On the retum trip, a ViEit WHS mab, Wades ibe guldasce of the club president (Myr, M, K. Hough- ton) %o a survival of the Oakleigh- Heatherton flora, where members were delighted to see a fine display of Wedding Rush (Rieinucarpes pu. folits) in Hower. Twenty years ago there were still maiy acres of this fine shrub in evidence near Melbourne, but the sprawl of suburbia has over- taken most of it, It was pleasing to see much Sossiaesn in fawer Geology Group—tctober 4, 1962 Nineteen members were present, with Mr. L, Angior tn the chair, The chajcmtan reported on the excursion ta Anglesea on September 16, in con Junetion with the Geelong F.N.C., when the oil rig and brown coal mine were Visited. The secretzry stated that, following 9 request, he had forwarded Novernber 196? 4 small collection of specimens to Donald, where it was hoped a Feld naturalist club would be farmed, Mr, l.. Bairstow, now touring tn India, wrote that he had arranged with the Tata iron works to forward specimens to the group. Mr, D, Molmnes favoured the group with a practical demonstration of tha preparation of a rock section for microscopical examination. The methods of grinding on glass, plates with various powders, mounting on slide and covering with glass slip teady for nlacing under the micro- scope, were carefully demonstrated. 4 number of microstopes were set up to \llustrate varios completed gectioiis Exhibits: Basalt with olivine, yal- eanic bomb and core, from Anakie, fassil! leaf from Tertiary, Bacchus Marsh (Mrs, K. Cheslin); rounded and polished stone from Cape Otway atea, thought ta be banded gneiss (Mrs. M, Saltau); brown coal, Angle- sea mine (Mr. L. Angior), Microscopiea] Group—Septempber 24), 182 Fourteen) members attended thig meeting at the Microscopy Lahoratary of the Melhourne University, Mr. E- Matthaei gave the group a very ex- citing talk and demonstration on fluorescenl microseapy and its pravti- cal application, The speaker presen- ted his subject in 4 most interesting way, giving ail the practical details necessary, usiie ordinary microscopes and equipment, : The group were shown a brilliant dienes of 25 tm sildes. showing Huterols sperimens under fluorescent illuminstion, The variety of colours obtained wlth but a eingle staining and stain (acridine orange) was simply astounding to all. inally members examined the array of slides under ‘the ten jnicro- scopes Which the speaker had set up specialiy for the oprasion, This staining methed not only showed structures which under conventional ilhimination would be very difficult if not inipossibla to identify, especially ander low magnifications (400%), but alsa by the colour indicated. virility of any Uving organism oy tigsve, Slides exhibited were—yeast vells shuwing varios stages of activity, section of pie needles, skin under fluorescent illumination, similar akin secon under conventional Lllumina- 213 tion, wool, iris reot, ovary, kidney section, lunge tuberculosis and some live epithelial cells. Metmbers thanked Mr. Matthaei for # most wonderful evening, especially as it had opened up a hitherto un- known field of microscopy to the group. Honour to Mr. N. F, Learmonth it is with pleasure that we learn that Mr. Noel Learmonth of Portland has heen elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. This is an honour rarely bestowed, and Mr. Learmonth has earned it for his valu- able researches and published matter not only about Victorian history centring round the Western District but also in other spheres. Many are aware of the splendid con-. tribution he has made to our know- ledge of pre-history and to the cause of natural history. He was instrumen- tal in establishing the Portland Field Naturalists Club, The F.N.C.V. offers its heartiest congratulations to Mr. Learmonth. Special Group Meetings Members of the F.N.C.V. and visi- tors Are invited te attend the fellow- ing two group meetings, which should he of general interest: Microscopical Group—November 21, at & pm. at C.S.LR.O,, 314 Albert Street, East Melbourne. Mr. S. Evans, ef the Photographic Section will speak on, and demonstrate, equipment for taking moving film through a microscope. This will be followed_by the showing of two colour films: “Bio- logical Control of Insects” (which won an oversess award) and “Insect Tissue Culture” (which was filmed through a micrescope). There is seat- ing for 60 persons. Fauna Survey Group—December 6, at 7.30 o.m., at Fisheries and Wildlife Department, 605 Flinders Street Ex- tension, Melbourne. There will be a seminar, led by Mr. N. A. Wakefield, on the evolution of marsupials, with special reference to the several Aus- tralian families of the order. Exhibits will include several live specimens as well as skeletal material. Voigtlander because the lens is so good See the Complete Range—from VITO C ar £20/5/6, to BESSAMATIC at £92/5/- “T HERBERT SMALL’S 259 COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE (Opposite Hote! Australia) ‘Now of all times is the time to consult your reputable deoler for personalized ottention ond after-soles i , : t ath, € Ya Magnificent stand of White Mountain Ash, Eucalyptus regnans, in the Marysville State Forest FORESTS COMMISSION VICTORIA . y preserving the beauty of our f /) forests for your enjoyment, 0 g 222 Vict. Nat.—vVol. 79 Vol. 79 No. 8 December 6, 1962 The Victorian Naturalist Editor: NORMAN WAKEFIELD, B.Sc. CONTENTS Editorial: A Problem of Administration .. fe. «'le =a a a .. 224 Articles; The Kerguelen Fur Seal on Macquarie Island, by S$. #. Csordas .. 226 Cape Nelson—its Camp and Cave, by #. M. Davies... Pe .. 232 Features; Along the By-ways with the Editor: Rainforest. Bird Association, Grounded Swifts .. ra 4 £4 * Wi it .. 230 Antarctic Wildlife: The Leopard is not for Branding, by John Béchervaise .. ty 4 wr act ti a na Hs oa BBT Field Naturalists Club of Victoria: NNuveinber General Meeting, Group Meetings .. et ie hs ,. 244 Proposed Increase in Subscriptions .. fet be ty ge a. 246 Diary of Coming Events .. re ae ‘ce bs bs $2 .. 247 Miscellaneous: Names of Yabbie and Murray Crayfish .. es bee ie ie .. 236 Benalla F. N. Club .. ts 3 AP be fe ke +6 .. 245 Native Plants Preservation Society of Victoria .. ‘4 13 .. BAB Front Cover: These are two young Tiger-cats (Dasyurops maculatus), 12 weeks old, born at the Sir Colin Macenzie Sanctuary, Healesville, in 1938. The photo- graph is by S. A. Pearl, and it appeared with an article, “Breeding the Tiger- cat”, by David Fleay, in the Victorian Naturalist of February, 1940 (Vol. 56, pp. 159-163). December 1962 223 Editorial: A Problem of Administration On page 246 of this issue there is a proposal that there should be a small increase in fees, both for the main categories of mem- bership of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria and for sub- scription to the Victorian Nat. uralist. Therefore 2 review of related matters—past and pres- ent—should be of interest to members and subscribers. The club wag formed in 1880, and the Naturalist has been pub- lished monthly since 1884, For the frst forty years, the price of the journal was sixpence per copy. In 1923-24, with club member- ship at a little over 300, tha year’s income was £182. An en- deavour had been made to main- tain the Naturalisé at 24 pages per issue, and the journa) had cost £249 to produce, compared with £155 for the preceding year. There was a debit balance of £162; so membership fees were increased, and the Natwralist repriced at 1/- per copy. The journal cost £402 to prod- uce in 1946-47, and membership that year exceeded 500, However, the price was increased to 1/6 per copy, and membership fees again rose. Ordinary member- ship rates, for instance, changed from £1 to £1/5,/- per annum. For 1950-51 the cost of the Naiuralist (£617) was offset a little by a return of £106 for advertisements. But, as sub- stantial losses had accrued over the preceding few vears, fees 224 were again increased and the price of the journal wus raised to 2/-, A year later, however, with another loss to record, it was deemed necessary to fix membership fees and subscript- tion rate to the magazine at the levels which pertain at present. Se, from Jyne 1952 onward, the} Naturalkst was priced at 2/6 per copy, and ordinary membership was fixed at £2. By 1959, due to inflationary prices, the Naturalist was cost- ing approximately £900 per year but had dwindled in size to @ meagre sixteen pages per issue. Thus Volume 75 barely exceeded 200 pages, compared with 268 pages for Volume 63, for inst- ance, and 364 for Volume 43. Membership still stood at about At that stage & vigorous policy of expansion was inaugurated, based on a fiarger and more attractive club magazine. As a result, membership of the F.N.C.V,, and the number of other persons and institutions subscribing to the Naturalist, have increased substantially, These prew, in aggregate, to 728 by 1960, 845 by 1961, and the total has now, reached 911. Volume 76 of the Naturalist ran to 382 pages, and each sub- sequent volume has exceeded 370 pages, Numerous good illust- rations are now a feature of the magazine. The doubling of the size of the Naturalist, the doubling of Vict. Not—VWol. 79 its circulation, and the higher standard of illustration, have been expensive: £1523, £1759 and £1980 were the total costs of production for the past three club years respectively, These few recent years have seen expansion in service to members in other directions as well. The library has heen re- organized and augmented, and its holdings publicized, so that it is now being wel] used, esp- ecially through the post by mem- bers who are unable to attend meetings. Seyeral major excur- sions are now conducted each year, in conjunction with affil- iated organizations and country members. Nature shows, for education of the general public, haye been re-established as annual events. This recent expansion and improvement of amenities have been implemented and maintain- ed to date without any general Increase in subscription rates. The necessary extra income has come from a number of sources: & greater aggregate of subscript- tions, sales of back issues of the Naturalist. artvertismante in the Noturaizst, and the supporting membership scheme. However, the club council is faced with the problem that in- creased membership and expan- sion of facilities have added greatly to the amount of admin- istrative work. All offices are honorary, and each of the severa) key office-bearers has, over the years, devoled many hours per week to club matters. Now, des- pite willing assistance trom time _ to time by other members, it has become physically impossible to December | 962 avoid the employment of com- mercial secretarial services to cope with several phases of organization. For this reason, the club's finance committee expects a sub- stantial deficit this year, and it proposes that next year there should be a small Increase In subseription rates. Perhaps the suggested in- ctease is insufficient and, just as in 1951, it may not solve the problem completely. Should the fees be raised even somewhat higher at this juncture? Or is it Ondesireable to have any increase in subscriptions? Perhaps, as an alternative, the supporting membership scheme should be vigorously pressed. This scheme was temporarily effective a few years ago in helping to ayoid early consid- eration of an increase in fees. Are there other possible sol- utions? Whatever the solution, it should be in keeping with the objects set out in the Articles of Association of the club, the main principle of which is “to promote the study of natural history. . . aiid aLunuldte interest therein - - by all means available”. Early next year the matter will be considered, and event- ually a decision will be reached, by such small fractions of the club's membership as are able to attend the monthly general meetings at the Nationa] Herb- arium, May we ask country members and subscribers to write and inform us of their views in this cdrnexion, so that a general cross-section of apinion may be available for consideration? 225 The Kerguelen Fur Seal on Macquarie Island Macquarie Island (54° 30° S., 158° 57° EB.) was densely popu- lated by fur seals at the begin- ning of last century, Within ten years of its discovery, in 1810, the sealers exterminated the en- tire stock, and for nearly a hundred vears no fur seal was sighted there. When the Austra- han National Antarctic Research Expedition established its sta- tion in 1948, the biologist of the expedition found a small group on the northern tip of the island (North Head). Since 1948, care- ful counts have been carried out each year and have shown a steadily increasing hasking population during the summer months, The first sign of breed- ing was reported in 19655 (Csordas), The peak of the fur seal bask- ing season on Macquarie Island is from the last week in Febru- ary to the first week in March, It starts in December and ends in May. This corresponds to the breeding season of the fur seals. The basking seals are mainly young males, which probably leave their home islands during the breeding season and look for a quiet. resting and feeding place, Up to 1960, the largest number counted was 316 on the North Head area, in 1959. The original habitat of the basking seals is nof certain, but it is probably on the New Zea- land subantarctic islands other than Macquarie Island. 226 By 5. E. CsarbpAs* Although, after the discovery of Macquarie Island, it is esti- mated that nearly 100,000 fur seals were killed yearly and their skins shifted to the mainland, the specific name of the original steck is not known, The new settlers were Identified by Dr. R. Falla as Arctocephalus forsteri Lesson. This identification is based on local sightings and the examination of several skulls and skins. During my three years on Macquarie Island (1955, 1957, 1959) I checked the fur geal basking area each week. On March 1, 1959, while doing the weekly count, I sighted a young male, of unusual appearance, in the middle of a group of about a hundred fur seals, on the west side of North Head. The other seals had a dark brown dorsal surface, grizzled by the presence of white tips to the dark hairs, a reddish-brown ventral surface and vibrissae which were black at the base and brown at the tips, The odd seal had yellowish hair on the chest and face, This lighter area was sharply divided from the darker part; the divid- ing line started on the nose and passed ahove the eyes, around the ears and down the sides of the neck to the chest. It also had extremely long, white vibrissae. On March 8, I sighted the same *Mediea! OMicer, Austratian National Antare- lie Retearch Txpeditions. 1965, 197, 193i, Vict. Norn—Voal 79 ANARE photo /, Csordas Large group of basking New Zealand Fur Seals, Macquarie Island seal in the same area and, being able to get closer, I noticed that it had a crest on the forehead. Dark hair, about # to 1 inch long, stood up like a brush, starting at the dividing line of the yellow- ish hair and extending 3 to 4 inches in an_ occipito-frontal direction. The colour of this crest appeared to be slightly darker than the rest of the hairs on the back of the head. The head seemed to be wider and the nose shorter than those of the other seals present. I did not sight this seal again. In attempting to identify the sighted male, I found that Rand’s (1956) description of Arctocephalus gazella Peters completely fits my seal. The main characteristics are the yellow-coloured face and chest, the crest on the head and the ex- tremely long, white vibrissae. My identification was later con- firmed by Dr, R. Falla who saw a colour photograph of this seal. December 1962 King (1959) divides A. gazella into two sub-groups: A—This has the abovemen- tioned characteristics and can be found north of the Antarctic Convergence (Marion, Gough and Amsterdam Islands) and is named Arctocephalus gazella elegans Peters, 1876. 3—This has a browner chest, no crest, lives south of the An- tarctic Convergence (Kergue- len, Bouvet Islands) and is named Arctocephalus gazella gazella Peters, 1875, Later, in a short paper, King (1959) states that the correct name for the species is Arcto- cephalus tropicalis Gray, 1872, and the two subspecies are, in sub-group A, A. tropicalis tro- piealis Gray, 1872 and in sub- group B, A. tropicalis gazella Peters, 1876. According to this grouping, the straggler on Macquarie Is- 227 land was Arctocephalus tropica- lis tropicalis Gray, 1872. Scheffer (1958) gives the range of A. gazella (A. tropica- lis) as between 37°N., 54°S., 78°E. and 13°W., but it seems that some younger animals travel further east. Falla has sighted young seals similar to the Macquarie Island straggler on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The sighting of a strange fur seal on Macquarie Island raises the question of the specific name of the original stock. Falla, in a personal communication, sug- gests that probably the original stock on Macquarie Island was not Arctocephalus _ forsteri. There is an obscure early record that the sealers called the ani- mals which they caught on Mac- quarie Island and Antipodes Island the ‘upland seal’. One fact that lends some support to the idea is that it was only on these two islands that the total stock was exterminated. They may have proved to be more vulnerable than the New Zea- land fur seal. Three species of Arctocepha- lus live in Australian-New Zea- land waters: A. doriferus (south coast of Australia), A. tasmani- cus (Tasmania) and A. forsteri (New Zealand). The difference DAVIS wHLREE MAWSON yes ANTARCTICA LANE as } a j p ; F # ew a - - SOUTH AMERICA ‘4 rae ANTARCTIC REGIONS 3 70. weer TONG wo Re Polar aspect of southern areas 228 Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 in physical characteristics is so small among these three species that Sivertsen (1953) proposed that the A. doriferus and A. tas- manicus should be included in the species A. forsteri. If the the sealers, being laymen and without taxonomic training, were able to distinguish two types of seals, then there must have been a noticeable difference between the two groups. The “upland seal’ has been com- pletely exterminated. It is pos- sible that this “upland seal’ be- longed to the tropicalis group and now, because of increasing numbers on its breeding ground, it is gradually re-discovering its old hunting ground. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks are due to Dr. R. A. Falla, Director of Dominion Museum, New Zealand, for his valuable advice, and to Miss §. E. Ingham and Dr. R. Springall for correcting my manus- cript. December 1962 Kerguelen Fur Seal (left) two New with Zealand Fur Mac- Island. Seals, quarie Note the dark crown = stripe. ANARE photo, by G. E: Csordas REFERENCES Csordas, 8S. E. (1958). Breeding of the fur seal (Arctocephalus for- ster? Lesson) at Macquarie Island. Aust. J. Sci. 21: 87. King, Judith E. (1959). The northern and southern populations of Arcto- cephalus gazella. Mammalia 23; 19. King, Judith E. (1959). A note on the specific name of the Kerguelen fur seal. Mammalia 23: 381. Rand, R. W. (1956). Notes on the Marion Island fur seal. Proc. Zool. Soc. London. 126; 65, Scheffer, V. B. (1958). Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses. University Press, Stanford, California. Sivertsen, E. (1954). A survey of the eared seals (family Otaridae) with remarks on the Antarctic seals collected by M/K ‘“Norvegia” in 1928-29. Norwegian Antarctic Ex- pedition, 1927-28 Sci. Res. 36. The cost of producing the blocks for the illustrations in the foregoing article and in the series on Antarctic wildlife has been defrayed from the M. A. Ingram Trust. The F.N.C.V. wishes to acknowledge this assistance, without which it would not have been possible to suitably illustrate these articles.—Editor. 229 With the Editor Za These columns are available notes and queries. “Vietorian Naturalist”, P.O. Rainforest Bird Association It is always interesting, when opportunity offers, to take note of the birds which frequent the small patches of sub-tropical rainforest which are scattered in the near-coastal tracts of East Gippsland. The vegetation is typified by large trees of Kanooka (Tristania laurina), Lilly-pilly (Acmena australis), Blackwood (Acacia melanoxy- lon), but few or no eucalypts, and by lianas. The Brown Warbler (Gery- gone richmondi) is most typical of these associations, and is app- arently confined to them as far as Victoria concerned, The nondescript appearance of this tiny bird makes positive ident- ification difficult, though its nest, when found, is unmistakable. It was discussed at length, and its nest, habitat, and distribution 230 is =. each month for your nature Address your correspondence to the Editor, Box 21, Noble Park, Victoria. illustrated, in the Victorian Naturalist of April 1956 (Vol. 72, pages 178-186). Similarly small, nondescript and difficult to identify in the field, is the Large-billed Serub- wren (Sericornis magnirostris) . Our knowledge of its occurrence in Victoria was set out in the Naturalist of February 1959 (Vol 75, pages 153-158). It too frequents the subtropical vege- tation, though it extends also into central Victoria. The loud clear whistle of the Black-faced Fly-catcher (Mon- archa melanopsis) usually rev- eals the bird’s presence, even if it does not show itself, and the same may be said of the Lewin Honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii) . The Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons) and Rose Robin (Pet- roica rosea) belong to this avian association, as do several more widely distributed species. Vict, Nat,—Vol. 79 On November 19 this year, I diverged easterly from the Omeo Highway, along a Forests Commission track known as the Playgrounds Road, and visited the area where the Timbarra River joins the Tambo. It is a picturesque spot, and the Tim- barra in particulat is a beauti- ful stream, with its waters cas- cading over the bedrock and the banks hidden beneath kanookas and a medley of shrubs. Although those kanookas were the only conspicuous element there of the rainforests, most of the birds ef that association were present. A family of tiny individuals came close enough to be recognized with reasonable certainty as Brown Warblers, though no nest was found to confirm the observation, Their almost inaudible twittering was diagnostic, and they were vert- ainly much smaller than the Brown Thornbills nearby. A Large-billed Serub-wren was perched in the shrubbery, and allowed itself to be studied from a distance of only four feet, 30 there was no doubt about tts identity, A black-faced Flycatcher was calling from time to time; “whee-u, wit-u, whee-u, - -”_ It eventually came to investigate the intruder, and remained for a fuli minute only six feet away. The general body colour is slaty blue-grey, the face and throat black, and the belly rufous. Later, a Second one was seen some distande away. Two Rufous Fantails came, each in a different part of the area, and displayed amongst the kanooka branches within sév- December 1962 eral feet; and nearby a Wonga Pigeon (Leweosercia melan- oleusa) called continually. The spot ts twenty-two miles due north of Lakes Entrance, and i3 well removed from areas of the typical Lilly-pilly “jungles” with which the Gerygone and the Monayelia are normally assaciated_ Grounded Swifts Last month we published an article called “The Riddle of Our Swifts’, and it was illust- tated by photographs of au individual that had been found, apparently uninjured but unable to fly, near FPortland, last autumn. This prompted Miss Jean Galbraith, of Tyera in Giprelan¢ | to make these comm- ents: I have twice had Spine-tailed Swifts brogght to me that cpuld not fly—not through injury but because some accident had brought them to the ground fram which they could not vise because their weak legs were much shorter than their wings, They best helpless wings against the earth and protested Iika small steam engines. When flung inte the air from 4 height, however, they flew out of sight. Gn another oceasion, I found a swift with 4a superficially injured wing, resting on the trunk of a quince tree, clinging to the bark about three feet from the ground. We fed it with insects and gave it dvops of water for two days, and put antiseptic ointment on the wing. During the second might it disappeared. I bope it was able to fly, but, a5 no-one saw it ga, we could not know what hap- pened. Tt seems that swifts "crash" from time to time. Have other readers any similar observations to report? 23) Cape Nelson— its Canip and Cave The Lady Nelson Cape Schaneck has a very close link with the early days of sea exploration in southern Victoria. On March 18, 1800, Lieutenant James Grant was given com- mand of a small brig of 60 tons, with jnetructions to proceed to Australia (from England) to prosecute “the discovery and survey of the unknown parts of the coast of New Holland”, This brig The Lady Nelson was des- igned by Captain John Schanck {later Rear-Admiral) and had three sliding centre-board keels which enabled her draft to be iessened in shallow water, thus permitting her to run close to a enast or into rivers, On reaching the Cape of Gnod Hope, Grant received a letter from the Duke of Portland (Home Secretary) instructing him to sail through the newly discovered Bass Strait, the dis- covery of which had caused considerable interest in England, Grant sighted the Australian coast, almost opposite the pres- ent boundary of South Australia and Victoria, on December 3, 1800, and from this point he sailed parallel to a coastline which, as far as Westernport, was unknown. The Lady Nelson was the first vessel to pass through Bass Strait eastward, and during the voyage Grant named many of the chief points of the Victorian coastline, among which were Portland, after the Duke of Portland, and Lady 232 By E, M, Davies Julia Perey Island, after a close relative of the Duke’s, Cape Nelson was naméd after the ship and Cape Schanck after its designer, The most important service rendered in The Lady Nelson was the discovery of Port Phil- lip when under the command of Lieutenant John Murray in 1802. She remained in the Aus- tralian service throughout her highly adventurous career until she was commandeered by a party of escaping convicts, Pleistocene Sand Dunes The soil, scenery and buildings at Cape Schanck possess a dis- tinctive appearance, dependant in a great measure on the geol- ogy of the locality. The rocks there are Jower Tertiary basalt overlain by consolidated Pleist. ocené sand dunes. The sand of these dunes was not quartz sand bul caleareous sand formed by fragmentation of the skeletons of innumerable marine animals —such as foraminifera, mol- luses, bryozoa, and echinoderms —whenr they weve left high and dry on the former sea floors after a lowering of sea-level {Gill, 1954). This low level was due te the removal of quantities of water from the sea for the glaciation during the Pleisto- eene Ice Age. Some of the calcium carbonate from this limey sand was dis- solved by percolating waters and deposited as a cement, thus Vict. Nat.—Vol, 79 Map of Cape Schanck (after Baker and Frostick ). Based on un unpublished plan by R. A. Keble. turning loose sand into solid rock. This solid rock (dune-lime- stone) is called aeolianite or, to use another name, calcarenite —which literally means lime- sand-rock. The calcarenite was used to build Cape Schanck Lighthouse and its adjacent buildings one hundred and three years ago. The original stone quarters are still used but only one of them as a residence. The lighthouse comprises a stone tower surmounted by a lantern of cast iron, glass and copper, with a total height of 70 feet. The centre of the light is 328 feet above sea-level. Many of the older houses on the Cape Schanck-Rosebud road are also built of the limestone, giving to this area quite a_ distinctive appearance. The Pleistocene dune-limestone is soft when quarried but when placed in position in the walls of a building and exposed to the atmosphere it develops a “skin” which effect- ively resists fretting (Keble, 1950). The Pleistocene sand dunes were formerly part of a big dune system that went right across what is now the mouth of Port Phillip Bay, and that is why the Bay has so narrow and shallow an entrance. It has been found necessary to blast out sections of the rock to allow a sufficiently deep channel for the passage of ocean-going vessels. The loose sand overlying the calearenite is quite recent and in most cases preserves a dune morphology. Certain land gast- eropods, both native and introd- December 1962 DUNE ROCK ae BASALT Y x 5s 6s x xy g + + ‘ vi LIGHTHOU ANGEL y SCHAN CEH PULPIT ROCKO uced, live on the vegetation cover of these dunes, and their shells may be seen washed into hollows the sand, Miss. J. Hope Macpherson has kindly ident- ified four specimens for me. They are as follows: Strangesta ruga? (very bleached) —native land snail. Succinea australis—native land snail. Candidula caperata—European and British land snail (introduced). Cochlicella ventrosa—Southern Eur- opean land snail (introduced). Blacks’ Camp The open shore of Western- port Bay and Bass Strait was much favoured as camping grounds by the aborigines. Occ- upation was facilitated by the occurrence of both shifting and consolidated dune ridges, rocky 233 Stone Implements found at or in the vicin- ity of Blacks’ Camp, Cape Schanck. 1. Hammer Stone (basalt). 2. Edge- ground Axe (dia- base?) 3. Edge- ground Axe (sand- stone), 4. Sharpen- ing Stone (Sand- stone), 4 cliffs, extensive wave-cut plat- forms, and cobble strewn bea- ches. The consolidated dunes held a thick cover of native grasses where abounded native animals of many kinds. The proximity of the rocky shoreline meant littoral mollusca in abun- dance, to which the coastal aborigines were very partial. Basaltic cobbles, many suitably shaped, facilitated the making of edge-ground axes. On the south-eastern side of the junction of the Flinders-Cape Schanck road is found one of the best known examples of a kit- chen midden on the Mornington Peninsula. It is known as Blacks’ Camp, and is situated at the foot of a dune ridge and formerly had a permanent water-hole nearby. The dune ridge, covered with Casuarina and other native shrubs, is still there, but the water-hole is dry and the area 234 so trodden down by stock and grassed over that practically nothing can be seen of the mid- den. However, Mitchell (1949) has brought to life for us this gathering-place of the natives of this part of the Peninsula. Close to this permanent water sup- ply lived members of the Bunuron tribe, sheltered by the vegetation growing on the consolidated dune- ridge nearby. Camp activities were carried on; women visited the coast and gathered shell-fish, small animals and vegetable foods; the men hunted the kangaroo and emu and captured possums and snakes; the children played around the camp or disported themselves in the water. Farther away, a few hundred yards from the main camp, an old man, presumably the spear maker of the tribe or an adept at making wooden implements, camped alone behind his brush break- wind. Tea-tree shoots, bent roots or short sticks would be brought to him by the more active men for fashioning into spears, boomerangs or throwing sticks. Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 The Angel Cave The coastline scenery at Cape Schanck is spectacular and shows to advantage the various types and textures of the volcan- ic base rock. The Pulpit and The Reading Desk are two basaltic stacks that, being of more solid texture, have resisted erosion. The Angel Cave on the other hand, has been formed in the soft tuffaceous material between the lava flows that constitute the cliff face. This cave is situated on the foreshore below the light- house and is due to marine erosion and circulating under- ground water. A steep basaltic cobble beach lies outside the cave which is above normal high- tide level. The cave consists of a small entrance portal and a large inner cave, the former, about eight feet wide, is surmounted by a series of pendant growths. The inner cave—the walls, ceiling and floor of which have a very thick coating of calcium carbon- ate—is ornamented by small stalactites. The cave is 98 feet long, with a height and width of 30 feet in the centre (Baker and Frostick, 1947). The cave floor slopes gradually upwards and, towards the rear, on the left hand side, is a long, wide ledge. Near the walls a number of “splash cups’? or small pools have developed. Water, contain- ing bi-carbonate is continually dripping from the walls and ceiling, making the cave perm- anently wet. The cave waters contain 836 to 39 parts of bi- carbonate per 100,000 (Baker and Frostick, 1947). On the floor of the cave are found discrete calcareous con- December 1962 ~ eretions, known as ooliths and pisoliths. Ooliths are spherical, subspherical, oblate or ellipsoidal accretionary bodies, most com- monly 0.5 to 1.0 mm. in size. If the bodies are over 2.0 mm. they are termed pisoliths. Many theories have been advanced to explain the formation of ooliths. Some theories demand direct or indirect intervention of organ- isms. Some oolithic bodies are certainly algal but in most cal- careous and in many non-cal- careous ooliths neither algae nor other organisms play any part in their formation. In gen- eral they appear to be the prod- uct of direct precipitation of dissolved materials on nuclei in a “free rolling’ environment. When ooliths become so large that they remain motionless on the bottom, they cease to grow as such. “The ooliths and _ pisoliths from Angel Cave characterist- ically show banded layers of calcium carbonate surrounding a nucleus (often basaltic frag- ments) ; in those with no foreign nucleus the centre may consist of calcite crystals” (Baker and Frostick, 1947). In the Angel Cave are founda certain number of pisoliths known as “cave pearls’ which are round, smooth, white and polished. They are located in the small pools that line the walls. Here the rate of the drip- ping water is swift and so the agitation necessary for buffing, to obtain smoothness and polish, is present. The majority of ooliths and pisoliths in the cave, although spherical, are rough- surfaced, and a light-fawn or bisque shade. There are many 235 Left: Rough- surfaced pisoliths from Angel Cave, Cape Schanck, Centre: Ooltihs from cave near Port Campbell, Western Victoria. Right: Cave pearls from Angel Cave. Cape Schanck. other small objects in the cave covered or partly covered with calcium carbonate, such as pieces of shell, crab fragments and even glass. Spry (1961) quotes an abor- iginal legend concerning “Pungil the god of the aborigines”, in relation to this cave. Included in her article is a photograph of the “angel”? after whom the cave is named, the name being suggested by a column formed from a united stalactite and stalagmite which in certain lights simulates an angel with folded wings. Visitors to the cave are advis- ed to carry a torch. REFERENCES Frostick, A.C., Baker, G. and 1947, Pisoliths and Ooliths from some Australian Caves and Mines. J. Sed. Petr. 17 (2): 89-67, Coulson, A. 1940. The sand dunes of the Portland District. Proc. Roy. Soe. Vic. 52: 315-332. Gill, E. D., 1954. Extinct Giant Kan- garoo from the Nepean Peninsula, Victoria. Vict Nat. 70: 212-216 Keble, R. A., 1950. The Mornington Peninsula. Geol, Surv. Vict. Mem. 17: 5-84. Mitchell, S. R., 1949. Stone Age Craft- smen. Pettijohn, F. J., Rocks. 1957. Sedimentary Spry, J., 1961. The aboriginal Cave at Cape Schanck. Vict. Nat. 78: 208-210. Twenhofel, W. H., 1950. Principles of Sedimentation. Names of Yabbie and Murray Crayfish The common yabbie of Victoria is Cherax destructor E. Clark, 1936 (Mem. Nat. Mus. Vict. 10: 26), being distinguished from CC. bicarinatus (=Parachaeraps bicarinatus) of nor- thern and western Australia; and two “Murray Crayfish” are recog- nized: Eustacus armatus (von 236 Martens) 1866 and #. elongatus E. Clark 1941 (Mem. Nat. Mus. Vict. 12: 12), the #. serratus (=Astacopsis serratus) being confined to eastern New South Wales. Appropriate adjustments should be made to the captions on page 169 of the Naturalist of October 1962. —Editor Vict. Nat.—vVol. 79 Antarctic Wildlife —s The Leopard is not for Branding Heard. Island, Friday, August 28, 1953 Blizzardly snow pelted in occ- asionally from the south-west and skirled across Wednesday’s sleet, now hard-frozen underfoot, Unlike its nor’ easterly precur- sor, today's storm scorned to shéd its burden on land. The base of the mountain, screened above a thousand feet, emerged as a harmony of grey and blue seracs. With the buffeting wind at variance, I early donned my anorak and struggled round to West Bay. There were no leop- ards; with the dawn they had departed, leaving just thelr sinuous impressions in the snow; there were no elephants or peng- tins or shags. The Cape Pigeons and Dominican Gulls in small numbers skimmied the water like animated surf, but drift-filled air is no creature’s chosen eleni- ent. The wind helped my home- ward journey except when it took an advantage of me on the most icy stretches, Saturday, August 29 The snow deepened during the day, drifting in from a more westerly direction and becoming moist and heavy enough to Sie. Only under such conditions may a depth of snow be built up round the station, and at sea- levei generally. If it follows a hard freeze, no matter how much December 1962 By JOHN BECHERVAISS dry snow falls, it is whirled away into the sea. All the big accumulations here have occ- urred when successive falls of heavy “Christmas-card” snow have each been firmed by spells of Jower temperature than is associated with such solid pre- cipitation, At any altitude on the mountain, conditions are somewhat different; for one thing there is permanent albedo and much less incident solar heat is absorbed. Sunday, August 30 Early this morning we were in sujlen eloud from which snow fell persistently, Soon after seven, in a silent calm, I walked to West Bay to tend the Mag- netic Observatory, a chore I do for Jim Brooks, so he can have an occasional Jate morning- Everything was muffled; the sea and a thin fringe round the rising tide was the only part of the world not white and shad- owless. Three leopards and an old bull elephant with the typ- ical blown-out nose lay content- edly at the far end of the Cove. On the homeward trek, E foll- owed the edge of the sea; the incessant flakes were drifting forward at exactly my pace and dematerializing on the wet sand at my feet, At about ten, to my surprise, the clouds were shredded, a mod- est sun penetrated a high upper 237 layer of cloud and the mountain began to appear. With the Null- arbor an unbroken alabaster slab from one’s feet ta the pow- dered seracs of the Baudissen Glacier, the brilliance of the scene seemed quite wnearthly, The wraiths of cloud held great- er reality than the shining Moun- tain, We decided to try our recon- naissance of a high Baudissen traverse towards Saddle Point almost dite east, but. by eleven, when Dick, Arthur and I were ready, the lure had vanished, We were sufficiently kitted to spend a night ont if al! should go well, but the lowering clouds froze on our goggles as we strug- gled up the slack western side of the glacier, It was a futile at- tempt. By the time we had pressed up to the Schmidt Glac- ier, ail hope of penetrating the high crevassed snow-fields fead- Ing across to the Saddle Point ridge had gone, Instead we turn- ed west into Drygalski and descended steep snow-slopes beyond the waterfall gully, to the shelter of a large erratic in the mantled azoreilla- Here, by contrast with that of the glaciers, the air was still and warns. Faint sunlight and falling snow, our backs to the rock ., .and another shared tin of “O2" rations, originally pack ed for wartime in the Pacific. Then we stumbled through the drifted mounds to the Gentoo Penguin roakery helow Erratic Point, but we found that nearly all the birds were down on the beach amongst the huge bull elephant-seals and stranded bergy-bits. The Gentoo (Pyg- oscelis papva), largest of the 238 Heare Island penguins, with an incomparable satiny white Front and coal black back and wings, marches in frightened butt- alions, turning tail in black panics when approached. But, stand for a minute or two.., and the procession is reversed. The whole army surges forward in white-fronted curiousity, squaw- king and braying, waddling daintily and surveying the intruder with myopie¢ intensity. Every time I stepped forward with my camera, the birds be- eame black in retreat; but only for a few moments. Time and time again they returned, and i obtained all the photographs T could desire. Next we inspected the bull elephants, They had heen re- juvenated by their months at sea, Now they were alert and active, hellowing and disten- ding their enormous balloon-like noses, arching their backs, mag- nificently sleek and virile, Very different is the scene from that of the autumn when they lay lethargieally amidst their own ordure, as though the sea were repugnant to them and they were tired of life, Perhaps they had had their reasons. During the next two or three weeks, more and more breeding bulls will haul out from the surf until, in South-West Bay alone, there will be a male population of two or three hundred, many, individuals weighing three or more tons. The cows wil] come too, probably ten times as many, nearly all pregnant. They will congregate in torpid gronps awaiting the relief of dropping their pups. Only then will the bulls move inte the cow-wallnws eo we Vict. Mot —Val_ 79 “ ess) e . I. es 2 : + of John Béchervaise ANARE photo Advancing Gentoo Penguins, near Erratic Point, Heard Island, in late August, and take over their chosen — stalk and catch some big, clumsy harems, and so provide for the future repetition of the scene and the propagation of their race. At the far northern end of the bay, the leopards lay in greatly superior elegance. Some of the females of this species were also heavy with young, but even so they were beautifully sleek and quite capable of the long cruise to the floating ice that must precede their delivery. They lay with watchful red eyes; with mouths, snake-mouths, shut like traps. Arthur and Dick tried to December 1962 “Nellies’ (Giant Petrels, or Fulmars) that were tearing at the bloody remains of one of Leon’s kills for the dogs, sur- rounded by a retinue of more agile Dominican Gulls and Cape Pigeons. They all rose screaming in the snow-filled air, a sight to remember. I commenced climbing a steep slope of little Mount Andrée— and found it almost too steep, kicking steps in the névé. I was not happy when my feet sudden- ly found loose rock at the steep- est part. Up on top was an unex- 239 pected view of Cave Bay, a forbidding place of steep snow- corniced black cliffs and jagged island aiguilles spiking the rel- uctant surf. The sea washed in over rumbling storm-rounded boulders. The place held a cur- iously gloomy, almost forbidding atmosphere, not unlike that of a Gustave Doré illustration of Paradise Lost. The only life seemed to be held by a few Cape Pigeons fluttering just below the brink of the cliff. To the north, south and east are the flats comprising probably a couple of thousand acres. They lie so little above sea-level as to make nearly an island of the Laurens Peninsula; they have certainly been inundated as there is clear evidence of a higher relative sea-level. Now, across the featureless whiteness below, raced Leon and his team drawing a sledge at great speed; the dogs seemed like mice on a string, half-way to mist-soaked Drygalski. Arthur and Dick joined me on top by a different route, and we followed the edge of the cliffs northward to a small col, before glissading down to the plains we all call the Null- arbor and Windy City. Monday, August 31 The history of yesterday still lies printed in the snow, every syllable clear if one could sep- arate today’s additional text. Through the station, the “trade- routes” between the various huts are gradually being beaten down to hard, glassy grooves, but, a hundred yards out, every foot- print is ageless. The morning was routine. Arthur prepared his apparatus 240 designed for the branding of Leopard Seals. After lunch there was a considerable exodus to- wards Corinthian Bay to help or to watch the branding operations or, on such a tranquil afternoon, just to take a walk. Leon had mustered a small husky team and the Greenland sled. On this were placed the forge with ready glowing coals, a yoke made from _ two-inch piping, with ‘“‘handle-bars’”’, ex- tending for about six feet, weld- ed on either side, a collection of brands and a coil of nylon rope. Arthur led his team of men— Dick, Jim and Jack, as urgent as matadors. Leon, of course, looked after his dogs; Peter and IT went along with cameras, and even Ron finally felt the urge and left the installation of his beloved telephone system. We all walked or sledded across the smooth crisp snow in breathless quarter sunshine filtering through high filmy cloud. Last night we had counted a record of 108 Leopards basking in the snow along the beach; some had even come several hun- dred yards inland across the Nullarbor. About three-quarters were still there, lying asleep or cocking wary eyes. From close up the largest, to human sight, appear evil, smooth, grey-dap- pled and enormously powerful. They are anything up to ten or eleven feet long. They are very quiet animals even when dis- turbed, just hissing or occasion- ally making a sound reminiscent of a low, mirthless laugh; per- haps, rather, a series of grunts with the timing of laughter. Occasionally, from a distance, an observer hears a more sust- Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 ained, rather musical sighing which, for want of a better term, is generally referred to as the Leopard’s singing. They open their tight mouths like pythons and display undoubtedly effic- ient barbed and serrated teeth. Lying in the snow, or by the grey surf, they are perfectly of the sombre scene, as though spawned by the grey-blue glac- iers, much the colour and often of the form of the wave-shaped glacier fragments tossed high by the sea. The attempt to brand them proved something of a fiasco. They twisted and threshed their enormous flexible bodies and easily wriggled away from the yoke, hissing and snarling al- most silently, rearing to snap at the puny human intruders. There was never any doubt about their ability and intention to resist molestation; anyway some of us had no great heart for the December 1962 Branding a Leopard Seal, Heard Hughes and Island. Brooks are holding down the iron yoke, MeNair is about to apply the brand at Gwynn's direction. ANARE photo John Béchervaise job. brisk to body-blows The trappers had to be avoid the threshing and the terrible mouths, though, perhaps for- tunately, the grey animals rap- idly lost their advantage on land. Dick was successful in thrusting one brand on to the tail of a Leopard. I think there was prob- ably little or no pain, as the blubber on this seal was certain- ly several inches thick. He escaped and began looping his way rather wearily into the sea, Other attempts were less suc- cessful. Men were exhausted more quickly than the seals and what might have been the only team ever marshalled to attempt the branding of adult Leopards had to give their quarry best. Even though the heavy iron yoke was bent and warped, and ac- tually gouged with deep incisions from the Leopard’s teeth, cert- ainly evincing their’ great strength and their objection 241 to interference, there was never any evidence of spontaneous antagonism. Left alone, the grey carnivores limit the expres- sion of their distaste for man- kind to silent sneering. I doubt whether Leopard branding will ever be a success. The pups are normally born amongst the pack-ice further south, a particularly uncodper- ative region for such pursuits. Heard Island is considered quite the best place in the world for the observation of adults. On the Tottan, | saw a Norwegian seal- er’s coat made from the pelts of Leopard pups. The fur was magnificent. The adult seal, fortunately, does not offer this attraction. I wandered along to the far end of the bay, to where the glacier seracs prevent further progress, taking many photo- graphs. Last year, of three men who tried to make a route below the ice-cliffs at this point, two lost their lives. The ice-foot actually extends well out, in places, beyond the incoming breakers, and though it is mask- ed with sand and, at low tide, is often enticingly bare and flat between waves, its offer of apparent ease of passage is fatal treachery. The sun came out and shed a pale golden light on the ice. When the sled had returned, Arthur joined me and we were content just to observe the Leop- ards. There were two little ones about a year old, and not more than six feet long. They behaved very much as their elders, his- sing and rearing and uttering the same sad, almost soundless reproach. 242 I found myself recalling an- other haunt of seals, seeming almost as lonely : that of the blue, sunlit waters and broad gneissic ramps of the Archipelago of the Recherche, south of Esperance, in Western Australia, where, two years ago, scores of Hair Seals (the South Australian sea- lion—Neophoca cinerea) had barked and trumpeted their com- plaints on our arrival at each new island. The two species—the Leop- ards and the Sea-lions—rep- resent the two quite different families of the Pinnipedia. Our Leopards are Phocidae, true or “earless’” seals, and do not use their limbs in any way as legs; these, in fact, are quite incapable of supporting them, and, if they raise their trunks, they depend almost entirely on the flexible body muscles. With Elephant Seals, also Phocidae, this musc- ularity is quite astonishing. I have seen great beasts rearing five feet in the surf in seeming mortal combat. Unlike the Leop- ards and Crabeaters, however, the Elephant may frequently obvert his flippers and they may appear as props buttressing the upreared animal. Incidentally, although the tussles between Elephants are noisy and mal- icious, they generally end harm- lessly, with the winner holding his ground and his conjugal rights, and his opponent boun- cing away in the energetic, almost peristaltic, manner of his kind. The other great family, the Otariidae, is represented on Heard Island only by the few aggressive Fur-seals (Arcto- cephalus australis) who can cert- Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 ainly move much faster over land or rock than any of the Phocidae. I shall hope to write of them when I have further encounters; their greatest con- centration seems to be round Red Island, the extreme north- ern tip of the Laurens Peninsula. We strolled back to the station through a perfectly still after- noon. The sledge party, except Dick, the cook, were just leaving for an hour’s ski-ing on Drigal- ski, intending to be back for dinner. My remembrance of the last day of August, in this remote year, will be centred in the grey Leopards, creatures perf- ectly organized for their cold, unsociable existence in the circum-polar seas. Doubtless, as I write, they are again hauled out along the edges of the four bays, without memory of our intrusion into their ancient sanctuary. If Leopard Seals had minds as efficient and ruthless December 1962 Leopard Seal and attendant Sheathbill ANARE photo John Béchervaise as their terrible mouths; minds to match their taut, fearful bodies, the history of men of Heard Island would read like a Wellsian fantasy. Any tales of their ferocity, except in the water, must, however, be read with the utmost reserve. As it is, they lie like giant slugs, surrounded by flocks of snow- white Sheathbills which, judging by appearances, would be the most dainty and fastidious of birds. However, outside the brief penguin-egg season, and in the absence of man’s unmeaning prodigality, the engaging, fear- less little “Paddy” must gain most of his sustenance from the excrement of the seals with whom he associates. It is, as usual, too late a bed- time for these active days. I shall, however, read for a while, and switch out my light in the first hour of our local September. —From Log for Lorna, an illustrated diary addressed to the author’s wife. 243 Field Naturalists General Meeting—November 12, 1962 The president, Mr. M. K. Houghton was chairman, and the Herbarium hall was almost full, The secretary read an appeal from the Save the Dandenongs League for funds to help buy thirty-three acres at Kalorama to preserve the view over Silvan Dam. As country clubs often ask for speakers at their meetings, the Coun- cil invited volunteers from F.N.C.V. members to form a panel of speakers. The subject for the evening was “The Centre and its Explorers”, by Mr. E. S. Hanks. With the aid of a clear map, he outlined early explorers’ eontacts with the Centre, stressing especially the tragedy of the Burke and Wills expedition. Fine colour slides illustrated Cooper’s Creek and the “Dig’ Tree”, Preservation Creek, the tree under which Poole died during Sturt’s expedition to the Cen- tre, fine specimens of Sturt’s Desert Pea, and rock drawings by ancient aborigines using a form of art un- known to present-day tribes. When showing a picture of Silverton Creek near Broken Hill, Mr. Hanks revealed the origin of the S in his name. After the showing of close-up slides of the “Dig Tree”, taken by Mr. Houghton during his recent visit with members of the Barrier F.N.C. from Broken Hill to carry out works to preserve the tree, the president thank- ed Mr. Hanks for the most interest- ing talk. One of those who spoke at question time was Mr. John McKellar, author of “Tree by the Creek” on the Burke and Wills theme. Ten new members were elected. The president welcomed Mr. and Mrs. T. F. Zirkler back from their trip abroad, Mr. Zirkler exhibited pictures of ibis nesting at Kerang, and showed three stone axes from Nagambie; Mr. M. Harrison, a black sea anemone; Mr. F. Harwood, larvae of Lichen Moth (Cebysa leucoteles); Mr. W. C. Woollard, infusorial earth from Mt. Erup, near Ballarat; Mr. E. 8. Hanks, petrified wood from Sturt’s Depot Glen, a piece of dead limb from the Beefwood (Grevillea striata) inscribed 244 Club of Victoria by Sturt at Poole’s grave in 1845; a small piece of bark from the Dig Tree (a coolibah, Eucalyptus micro- theca); and Wild Lime (Eremocitrus glanea); Mrs. D. M. Parkin, opalized wood from White Cliffs opal mine, and bark from a Leopard Tree (Flin- dersia maculosa) from Mootwingee; Mr. R. Condron, gastroliths of a crayfish from the stomach of a Red- fin Perch, Mathoura, N.S.W.; Mr. J. R. Garnet, aboriginal grinding stones from Urangeline, Butcher’s Broom (Ruscys aculeatus) showing red berries on the cladodes, and a collection of garden-grown native plants, including Grevillea sericea, G. rosmarinifolia, a rosy and a scarlet Callistemon, Kunzea ambigua and Veronica perfoliata; Miss J, Woollard, Myoporum floribundum from Gipps- land; and Mr. H. A. Morrison, dend- ritic markings on limestone from the Flinders Ranges. Botany Group—November 8, 1962 A good attendance, including four new members, enjoyed Members’ Night, with contributions from Miss A. Hooke (grasses), Mr. S. E. Bark- er (wildflower slides), Mrs. A. G. Hooke (conifers), Mrs. E. Webb-Ware (alpine flowers from the Kosciusko area), followed by an open question session. Miss L. White reported on the botanical aspects of the President’s Picnic excursion on Cup Day to Mount Disappointment, Hazeldene on the Flowerdale road, Mount Sugar- loaf and Mason’s Falls (Kinglake National Park). Thanks are due once again to Mr. and Mrs. K. Cheslin for being excell- ent guides to the F.N.C.V. members and Girl Guide leaders who enjoyed the club excursion to Anglesea on November 18, when the highlights were the mass flowering of Conos- pernum mitehellii, Xanthorrhoea minor, Thysanotus tuberosus and Brunonia australis. Many orchids, ineluding species of Caladenia, Pras- ophyllum, Diuris, Thelymitra and Miecrotis were also in flower, as were both Long and Short Purple Flags Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 (Patersonia longiscapa and P. glanea), Thomasia petalocalyx, Lobelia rhomb- ifolia, Sphaevrolobinm vimincum and very many other fowers. A visit was also paid to the brown coal open cut mine, where the coal has been formed from ancient forests of Nuthkofagus {beech) trees, Faona Survey Group—October 4, 1952 Twelve members were present with Mr. N, A. Wakefield in the chair, Mr, Wakefield told the group that many interesting bone specimens belonging to several of the more unusual species of macropods had been recovered from the various western Victorian deposits. These included a single skull from Petrogale penicillata—affirming its original distribution in the south- western patt of the state, Mr. J. K. Dempster commented on the present status of Potorous trid- adtylus in this, state and outlined earrent proposals to reserve at Jeast ene of its remaining habitat areas. The proposed measures for the pro- tection of the rock-wallabies (Petro- gute penicilleta) in Gippsland were explained, und muth diseussion between group members ensued. Con- cern was expressed hy the group as to what steps had been taken ta ensure the preservation of the Gymnobelideus habitat by the Forests Commission and the Country Roads Board. The desirability of appointing 2 full-time conservation research offi- cer to the Fisheries and Wildlife Department was then discussed at gome length, At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Wakefield showed the group a collection of colour-slides of eeeeral species of the family Dasynr- ae. Benalla F.N. Club The first annual genera] meeting of this club was held on September 25 last. The annual repart shows that the club ig making good progress, a fea- ture being that it rehes very largely on the efforts of its own members both as speakers and as exhibitors of slides and of specimens, and as members of the various groups which have been farmed. Councillor W. McCall Say was re-elected president, and Mr. A. Knight the new secretary. The camera for the scientific photographer MICRO — MACRO AND TELEPHOTO A complete selection of accessories ond. 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The committee has pointed out that costa ate increasing, steadily in sev- eral directions; printing of the Nai- uralist has increased in the last year by over £10 per month, and despatch- ing and other incidental expenses have also increased, With the growth of the club it has been found impos- sible for the secretary to rely on voluntary help only for typing and duplicating, and it is expected that assistance along these lines: will cost at least £100 during the current year: Membership is inereasing steadily, CALLING ALL Photographers! Select your equipment fram and sales of back numbers of the Naturalist continue, but not on the same scala as in recent years. The finance committee, taking these matters into consideration estimates that a deficit in the region of £100 to £160 will be incurred in the present year. The finance committee feels that 2b would be a retrograde step, and most undesirable, to fail to maintain the Naturalist at least at its present standard, as it is the principal seryice we render to the majority of bur members. It therefore suggests that the proposed inerease in sub- scription rates is the most desirable way of meeting the situation, as it should yield from £200 to £25) more per year. It is not proposed to alter the existing rates for junior members or for joint members, This matter will be open for dis- cussion at the general meeting of the elub on January 14, 1963. Nature WAGNER’S comprehensive stocks of Exakea, Leica, Pentax, Praktica, etc. also telephoto lenses, close up attachments, eleerronic flash and accéssories. R. H. WAGNER & Sons Pty. Ltd. 43. Elizabeth Street (corner Flinders Lane) Telephone 62 3114 'so Chadstone Shapping Centre Se i ne Bet | nih a 2496 Vict, Nat—Vol, 79 The Victorian Naturalist Vol. 79 (9) January, 1963 Field Naturalists Club of Victoria In which is incorporated the Microscopical Society of Victoria Registered at the General Post Office, Melbourne, for transmission by post as a periodical 2/6 Bower of the Great Bower-bird, Chamydera nichalis. This photograph was taken by Charles Barrett, near Darwin, about thirty years ago, and it appeared in the Naturalist of September 1933, accompanying some observations on the species. Nm wi os Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Vol. 79 No9 January 10, 1963 F.N.CN. The Victorian Naturalist Editor: NORMAN WAKEFIELD, B.Sc. CONTENTS Articles; A Family Event with New Guinea Crowned Pigeons, by David Fleay 256 Masked Owl at Buchan, by John L. McKean .. a 263 Preservation of Colour in Spider Specimens, by G. H. Kaire .. -. 267 Flinders, its Foreshore and Fossils, by #. M. Davies .. eh .. 268 Feeding Habits of Leadbeater’s Possum, by R. Mark Ryan .. .. BAB Features: Along the By-ways with the Editor: Abnormal Colouration in Orchids, Funnel-web Spiders, Movement of Koalas, Yellow Robins and Kookaburras a bs be a os ate .. 264 Field Naturalists Club of Victoria: November General Meetings, Group Mentions, « ete. ._ we ie rr -248 Diary of Coming Events .. +4 : 3 i -t +. 280 Miscellaneous: A Pink Goodenia a , 4 bee ti na ut tor ery 3) A Kingfisher Note . Ay se .. 276 Book Review: ‘My Wilderness—The ‘Pacific West” .. = se BIT Front Cover: - These are some of the 3,000 gannets (Sulu serrator) which nested on Cat Island in Bass; Strait in 1912. The decline of the rookery is discussed by A. H. Chisholm in the Victorian Naturalist of April 1959 (Vol 75, pp. 188-192), and the final figure given is for 1956-57 when fourteen fledglings were noted. Do gannets still use the rookery? January, 1963 255 A Family Event with New Guinea Crowned Pigeons For size, beasty and grace there is no doubt that in all the world, New Guinea's Crowned Pigeons are pre-eminent in their family (Columbidae). In fact they have few vivals among birds in general, Eyen as far back as 1700, the realistic Dam- pier, on adventurous southern voyages, was sufficiently imp, pressed to describe the species he saw as “a stately land fowl", Net only spectacular in size, but prideful im bearing and plumage, these elegant giants of the pigeon family are even larger and heavier than Scrub Turkeys, with an aristocratic bearing enhanced by magnificent permanently erect head dresses that even peacocks might envy. Since 1776 they have also been known as Goura Pigeons—that is likewise the generic name— and such outsized, ground-loving pigeons are strictly New Guinean, having evolved prob- ably in the absence of any pre- datory animals of consequence, Nowadays they are said to have been greatly reduced in numbers owing to Lhe depredations of better equipped native hunters, while the showy head plumes were allegedly much sought by the millinery trade. Years ago, no less than eight species of gouras were recorded, but im the latest revision, these have heen reduced to three. Named in honour of England’s great nineteenth century Queen, early in her reign, one of these 256 By Davin FLEAY ‘birds ig the Victoria Crowned Pigeon (Goura victoria) It has been determined as living on Japen Island in Geelvink Bay and (introduced?) on Biak, with a closely similar form (Gowra victoria beccarti) ranging along neighbouring northern New Guinea trom the Siriwo River to Astrolabe and Collingwood Bays and between Holnicote Bay and Mount Maneao. For many years I had nur- tured an ambition to observe these lovely birds at close quar- ters, and on August 5, 1959, that wish became pleasurable reality with the arrival by air of a pair of exquisite Victoria Crowned Gouras. There is little doubt that the classification of these is beccarii, for their original habitat has heen established as the valley of the Jimmi River, 4500-5000 feet above sea level, and at Jeast a hundred miles iniand. The Jim- mi flows ittto the Yuuat which in turn feeds the Sepik sixty miles from its outlet. Goura victoria beceart. is described az a larger bird, more brightly coloured than the topotype, with a notably Jarge crest having broader edgings to the feathers. The advent of the gouras waa the result of a reciprocal ex- change between Sydney’s Zoo- logical Park Trust and our West Burleigh Fauna Reserve in Queensland, We have to acknow- ledge a number of instances in recent years of enthusiastic as- Viet, Not—Vol. 79 4 “ and threat behavior of The crost is Alarm t maximum sistance from Sir Edward Hall- strom, able Director of Taronga Trust. Clothed in eye-catching, blue- grey plumage which, contrasted with russet breasts, chestnut wing patches and ruby-red eyes, the new residents formed such an ensemble of sheer living beauty, particularly when sun- light shimmered on the crowning glory of eight-inch head plumes, that they seemed too vivid to be true! How apt was the spon- taneous remark of a little girl visitor who said, “Mummy, look at those birds with flowers in their hair!” January, 1963 full-grown elevation Vietutia Crowned and the sixteen months old strike. ye Pizeon, Wings raised to We had long prepared for our “ouests’’ and a sheltered aviary built among wattles on an eleva- ted windless hillside had been the object of much thought and effort. We knew that the big pigeons spend the greater part of their time on the ground fossicking for seeds, berries and other fruits, so it was a delight on installation to find them quickly approving their quarters to the extent of walking hither and yon, wagging their tails rapidly the while in characteris- tic vertical movements and hold- ing their fantastic crests at maximum elevation. 257 How very fortunate I con- sidered myself, anticipating the delight of observing these won- derful and beautiful birds. After a week of settling in, it was observed that when they flew heavily to low boughs, a perfect whirlwind of dust was created, They were so big that the act of becoming airborne necessitated powerful stroking on take-off. Soon it was noticed that the bigger male called oc- casionally in prolonged lugu- brious ‘‘moos” for all the world like someone blowing strongly over the top of an empty milk bottle. Interestingly enough the sound struck a responsive chord in a “widowed” Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) nearby, and throughout the day she respon- ded in loud ‘‘hoos”’, though strictly a bird of the night! The Crowned Pigeons also uttered an alarm note, soft but penetrating, on the appearance of any strange animal such as a dog, or even at the sight of a strolling emu. To my very great astonish- ment, by the middle of August, 1959, the larger male goura— distinguished also from his somewhat retiring mate by more vivid ruby eyes—signified ap- proval of the lowest of three wired-down platforms of sticks, a mere 33 feet above ground level, to the extent of sitting upon it and silently huffing his wings each time the lady flew up to perch. Between times he fed daintily upon sliced fruit, let- tuce, grapes, cracked corn, car- rot, peanuts and—greatest fa- vourites of all—ripe “fruits” from a neighbouring Morton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla). It is obvious at all times that Victoria Crowned Gouras are extremely 258 fastidious feeders. Rarely are any food items swallowed with- out being picked up, rolled about in the beak and dropped perhaps half a dozen times before final disposal. Strangely enough, pea- nuts holus bolus in the pod are usually preferred to the shelled product and the birds are not averse to taking various grubs and even earthworms. The courting activities of colourful birds seldom fail to provide spectacles of charm and grace, but surely the antics of this giant New Guinea pigeon surpass any known performance by lesser ones of the family. For a whole month the spectacular fellow laid on the charm—but never could a lady have cared less! He gathered thin pliable twigs of special calibre and length and flew them one at a time to the platform for careful arrangement though at the rate of perhaps a single twig per hour. Now also a true New Guinea “sing sing’ atmosphere crept in, for while the birds were on the ground, the cock Goura stepped briskly in circles about the lady. Then when she became motion- less and her attention was fixed, he would sweep his spectacular head dress to the very ground between his feet. Simultaneous- ly with this act the huge rooster- sized bird dropped his wings and elevated his tail emphasizing vigorous bows with booming calls of “boom-pa .. . boom-pa ... boom-pa...” Apart from the rustle of mag- nificent steel-blue and cinnamon plumage, the effect was consider- ably heightened by the play of sunlight on the bird’s ruby red Vict, Nat—Vol. 79 eyes and the truly lovely head- dress. At any intrusion on what was now his territory, Mr. Goura puts on acts of pugnacity, eleva- ting his big wings on high and raising his glorious head plumes to their zenith. At the same time he rumbled threateningly, jump- ing sideways and buffeting in true pigeon manner with a powerful shoulder. Day by day for a whole month, the courting show went on—precipitated I found by the sound of falling water when the water bow] was January, 1963 Male Goura tovers the baby and raises his wings in threat. Note the plume-like feathers beneath the wings, filled from a hose. At other times, between the slow metho- dical addition of long pliable twigs to the nest, the cock pigeon huffed his wings and called in his penetrating “empty bottle” note. But Mrs. Goura showed not the slightest sign of interest or appreciation. It almost seemed that, being aware of the big fellow’s inflated ego, she saw the wisdom of ignoring both the house-building and the show that went with it. Whether she liked it or not, she had to live 259 with him! However, in a believe- it-or-not atmosphere, on the morning of September 26, we found Mrs, Goura_ squatting neatly on the nest for the first time and, in the days that fol- lower, it was established that she had begun brooding from the moment of arrival of the large white egg. The completed mat- tress of fashioned twigs, some of them 20 inches long, now measured 22 inches in length and had a thickness of 4 to 5 inches. All evidence to hand on gouras appears to indicate an invariable rule of a single egg to a clutch. As might be expected it is quite equal in size to that of a domestic fowl. Proving himself a thorough gentleman, Mr. Goura imme- diately dropped all stage events, and within twenty-four hours took over the day shifts, brood- ing sedately and soliloquizing in low crooning booms. Mother bird’s turn for the night usually began between 4 and 5 p.m., and so tight was the schedule, with never more than a momentary exposure of the white egg, that it was a whole week before we even caught a glimpse of the closely guarded treasure. Interestingly enough the daily change-over followed a definite ritual, with the non-sitting bird flapping up to the nest carrying a selected twig. This was offered to the pigeon on duty with all the solemnity of a locomotive driver passing the staff to a station master. The sitting goura then, and only then, would tuck up its shanks and shuffle slowly off the egg to make way for the relief sitter. It was impossible to se- cure relevant pictures, for the 260 lady Victoria spooked easily, and in any case the cock goura re- sented approaches of any kind. Three weeks passed by with no sign of a hatching, nor was the cock bird ever seen to re- gurgiate food for his mate. Un- doubtedly he did so, for occa- sionally on his approach she be- gan working her beak. Soon it was four weeks and luck was apparently out. But the thirtieth day was “H day’” for half an egg shell lay on the ground, and we knew that the nestling had arrived. It was a very happy event. However, the notable baby remained so tight- ly tucked beneath either parent that seven days elapsed before it was first sighted. Conscien- tious father goura now showed such tremendous pride that my attempts to secure pictures were immediately greeted with wings raised on high, a_ gorgeous corona of crest, threatening rumbles and actual strikes. He was so big and so strong that, following one wing buffeting, my right wrist was numb and pain- ful, and it was obviously wise to desist in case the typically soft pigeon fledgling was accidently killed, From this evidence I am sure it would go ill with any in- truder—apart from men, moni- tor lizards or pythons—attempt- ing to interfere with nursery arrangements in goura land, First sight of the greyish- downed infant was the merest glimpse when, at the age of one week, it was observed partaking of regurgitated food with only its head projecting from under the father bird’s protecting plumage, At least it could be seen that it possessed a small Vict. Nat—Vol. 79 SS a i SS knob on the crown as the sprout- ing point for the future head- dress. Incredibly, the parent birds continued to keep the growing infant out of sight, the male pigeon becoming even more pug- nacious about intrusions. Then, dramatically, at the age of four weeks, when only as big as a homing pigeon and a mere quarter the bulk of either giant parent, the leggy, stub-tailed fledgling came into full view by deserting the nest abruptly and entirely. Well feathered but bunchy-crowned, it flew high into the aviary and _ perched safely. Next day it walked about the ground between the parents uttering short plaintive whistles of entreaty, wagging the short stubby tail up and down in the characteristic manner of the species. For several nights, habit carried the mother back to January, 1963 Fledgling of Victoria Crowned Pigeon in nest, Short-tailed and nervous, this chick is four weeks old, squatting overnight on the stained and flattened nest. but the male slept protectively be- side his small offspring on the highest perch. It was late November, and the moulting season had begun. As time went by and the active baby gradually increased in size, its crest developed also, but for months it remained dependent entirely on regurgitated food de- livered by both parents, At twelve weeks, except for the juvenile squeaking, it could have passed as an adult and had become equal in size to its mother. On account of dazzling plumage and fine bearing we suspected its sex to be male, which eventually proved to be the case. It developed playful habits, throwing up its wings, jumping sideways and running broadside on to an imaginary foe with fine joie de vivre. But 261 even then it still accepted pre- digested food from the old birds, and had never been seen to pick up food for itself. This occurred for the first observed occasion on January 26, 1960, with the “baby” then a little more than thirteen weeks of age. Gradually thereafter it adopted an indepen- dent attitude though accepting parental handouts whenever they were offering. At five months, being an ex- traordinarily spirited and healthy specimen, it began to exhibit aggressive as well as playful behaviour, often fetching either its father or mother a smart blow with a strong shoul- der. The squeak was going out of its voice, and though slim in the legs, it promised to be the biggest and finest member of the family. Then midway through 1960 tragedy struck. To our great sorrow, father goura died sud- denly. It was either the result of swallowing some substance such as a cigarette dropped by a visitor or a consequence of some ailment of which we were un- aware. He became a treasured exhibit of the Queensland Museum. As the year went on it be- came obvious that though some slight interest was taken in the old nesting site by the female, her son, the young male, was too immature to encourage her and no egg-laying transpired over the 1960 season. However on April 3, 1961, mG calls of ‘“‘boom-pa .. . boom- i, 3? drew attention to the hrst ‘courting display by the youngster. Sure enough, investi- gation revealed him in striking pose with elevated tail and 262 down-swept head dress as he bowed repeatedly, advertising his grandeur to the female be- fore him. It was noticed then and later that, in contrast to his late father’s display, the ‘‘boom-pa” calls were accompanied by beak clicking, Here was definite evi- dence of his male sex and an in- dication that it took him 17 months to attain maturity. Then, as was to be expected, he began to collect sticks and arrange them into a typically untidy nest. Nowadays his well-being is expressed in continual play-act- ing, with wings on high as the lovely creature jumps from side to side uttering “intimidating” rumbles or flapping both wings almost with a crack on landing, like some proud rooster about to crow. Displays or “combat dan- ces” have become an invariable accompaniment to my various entries with food trays to the aviary; and even so, the pigeon needs only the excuse of a few Noisy Miners or “‘Mickies” land- ing in trees above to start all over again! Often on warm sunny morn- ings far-carrying but lugubrious “moos” come from him and he is usually discovered during such “soliloquies’”’ perched at the nest edge with gaze intent on his un- tidy but imposing architectural effort. For over a year now young ‘“‘Boom-pa” has carried on with intermittent nest building and steady display. Even the provision of a single twig brings him down to collect the new item and fly it aloft for im- mediate addition to the trea- sured edifice. I am afraid however that age has caught up with mother pigeon and, in spite of all the Vict. Nat.—vVol. 79 encouragement and general ex- citement, she is apparently in- capable of further egg produc- tion. Very soon a young hen of the Masked Owl at Buchan On July 8, as one of a party of three, investigating bats, I en- tered Clogg’s Cave at East Buchan. Something large was noted flying towards us, and in the full beam of our torch it turned and revealed itself as an owl. The bird flew to the end of the cave and stood on the eleva- ted floor for several minutes before flying to a perch on a rock shelf. We kept the owl under ob- servation for some time and are quite certain in identifying it as a Masked Owl (Tyto novaehol- landiae). Its general size, the chestnut markings on the mask and up- per breast, and the feathered tarsi allowed its immediate dis- tinction from the Barn Owl, (T. alba). The shape and colouration of the specimen differed from that of the Sooty Owl, (T. tene- bricosa) ; this last being short and bulky in comparison and dusky in colour. An attempt was made to catch the bird (thought to be a male), so that measure- ments and photographs could be taken, but this was unsuccessful. A search of the relevant literature indicates that while T. novaehollandiae is fairly widespread in Victoria, the bird is far from common. My only previous experience with this species in the field, was a bird seen perched on a telegraph pole at Birregurra in western Vic- January, 1963 species is scheduled to arrive; and before long we hope to re- establish the happy position of being able to breed more of these magnificent crowned birds. By JOHN L. MCKEAN toria during January 1956. The only unpublished record of which I have details is a dead bird (evidently killed by a motor vehicle) found by N. A. Wake- field (pers. comm.) on the Prin- ces Highway, four miles west of Port Fairy on April 25, 1962. As far as I have been able to ascertain, the Clogg’s Cave record is the first of a Masked Owl having been seen within a Victorian cave. However, the Nullabor Plains race, (7. n. troughtoni), is well-known as a frequenter of caves and blow- holes in that area. Wakefield, (Victorian Naturalist, Vol. 77. pp. 227-240, December 1960), when discussing the predators possibly responsible for bone material in caves in the Buchan district, considered that two of the deposits were accumulations by owls of the genus Tito and that the evidence strongly in- dicated T. novaehollandiae. This sight record tends to confirm this theory, Clogge’s Cave, however, is regularly visited by speleologists and bat workers who have not reported the presence there of Tyto owls previously or since. Furthermore, as no Tyto pellets were present when the cave was checked by Wakefield in August 1962, it appears that the bird seen does not habitually roost there. 263 hs Se Editor With the These columns are available each month for your nature notes and queries. Address your correspondence to the Editor, “Victorian Naturalist”, P.O, Box 21, Noble Park, Victoria. Abnormal Colouration in Orchids In a letter dated September 23, 1962, Mr. T. L. Richardson of Narre Warren East, made these observations: Last week I noticed an unusual bud in my orchid pateh and marked it to see what would emerge. It turned out to be a Fringed Spider-orchid (Caladenia dilatata) but without any colour at all, The usual green and red patches are absent, and the calli on the labellum are cream in colour. This flower, like two coloured ones within a foot of it, has the usual clubbed sepals and fringed labellum; so I presume it to be an albino form. Is it unusual? Do you think it will come up again in the same place next year if not disturbed? Some say that an albino plant cannot survive beyond the seed- ling stage because, lacking chlor- ophyll, it cannot synthesize food material and therefore dies after the reserves in the cotyledons are used. Mr. Richardson’s or- chid would certainly have had 264 a green leaf capable of carrying out photosynthesis, but neverthe- less it is correct to refer to it as an albino, which term, acc- ording to The Concise Oxford Dictionary, may be applied to a “plant Jacking the normal colouring”. The development of pigment in various parts of plants and animals is due to complex series of biochemical steps, each of which is controlled by a specific enzyme. The enzymes, it is thought, are organized by spec- ific genes. A gene may be altered, by mutation, so that it does not carry out its normal function. But the body cells of most high- er plants and animals are dip- loid (having two sets of similar chromosomes—comprising two full complements of the various genes). On the rare occasions when each of a pair of corres- ponding genes is defective, there Vict. Noat.—vVol. 79 is a breakdown in function, and a “freak” may result. With the albino specimen of Caladenia dilatata, there should be no change in fits colour from year to year, as long as it re- produces vegetatively. However, if fertilized by pollen from other plants, in which the correspon- ding gene is net mutated, the albino spider-orchid should set geeds which can produce norm- ally pigmented flowers, though the plants of this next gener- ation would have a recessive gene for albinism. Funnel-web Spiders | The following note is from Mr. K. Rook of Pakenham: Recently I dug ap a spider's tunnel which was about a foot long and the diameter of a sixpence. In it was an adult, upproximately 22 inches an leg-apan and with a body about 14 inches long. With it were fourteen young ones, some of which T am send- ing for identification, I identified these as a species of funnel-web. Could you please give me some data about this spider? The species may be Aname butleri, the Melbourne Funnel- web, but identification in this #roup is uncertain wiless one has a male specimen. Unfortunately, males are rarely collected, for the female is the conspicuous home- builder. Male funnel-webs are smaller in body and longer in thé legs, than females, and the apical seg- ment of the pedipalps resembles the sting of a scorpiun, with its fine point directed back towards the spider's cephalothorax. The habit of the male is to move about at night, and he may be January, 1963 observed on a path, a veranda or the floor of a shed or house. Any that are noted should be placed in 70 per cent aleohot (or methylated spirits mixed with a httle water) and for- warded for identification. We do not yet know much of the species and their distributions, and male specimens are needed for stuily. Movement of Koalas These comments have been passed on by Miss Jean Gal- braith, from a man who has been clearing land in South Gippeland- We see dozens of koalas, When I am driving the ‘dozer I always leaye the tree with s koala in it. When all the trees round have been cleared, the remaining one always sways in the wind. The koula doesn't seam to like it, | do not know whether he gets seasick (or tree-sick), but he always comes down. Then he sits for about an hour at the foot of the tree—he always does it—aés if he were getting his balanee or his sense of direction before going off. Then I take down his tree. It is pleasing to learn, by way of this pleasant little obser- vation, that these koalas are receiving a certain amount of consideration. This was not gen- erally the case fifty years or-more ago when, by direct and Indirect meatis, settlers were reducing them towards the point of extine- tion. They have since been widely rehabilitated in + Victoria, but their numbers can only be main- taimed at the carrying capacity of suitable habitats, We hope that there will always remain sufficient habitat to maintam a strong population of these at- tractive animals. 265 Yellow Robins and Kookaburras Here is an interesting note from Mr. N. 8S. Bennett of Stawell, dealing with something like the “éternal triangle” in, the domestic affairs of some Yellow Robins, and with a hint of the predatory habit of our popular Kookaburra: Several years ago, while cutting wood on the edge of Heytesbury Forest, I was able to observe Yellow Robins nesting, When I first noticed them the hen was sitting on the nest and two males were feeding her. One male appeared to be her mate, always fying straight to the nest, causing the second male to leave. When the second male approached the nest he would always wait at a distance for the first to leave, Unfortunately I cannot record a happy ending, as there were always atew kookaburras following me about, waiting for wood grubs, Although both male robins combined to drive them away, one morning the nest was destrayed and the robins were gone, The kpoxaburras used to wait at niy house every morning and then fly from tree to tree ahead of me to where I was working, and wait until I split wood and tound some grubs, Inciden- tally, they always left when my neighbour; half a mile away, started his. tractor to go ploughing. One day I saw a kookaburra fy fifty or sixty yards across a clearing, straight at the barrel of a dry tree, then fly off from it with a large hunts. man spider, We may appreciate the roll- icking notes of cur “laughing Jack”, but many Tasmanian bird-lovers feel otherwise, Intro- duced some years ago to North- ern Tasmania, the Kookaburra has now spread down the east coast and is blamed for a reduc- tion in populations of local species, particularly the Grey Thrush, The camera for the scientific photographer MICRG — MACRO. . , ULTRA CLOSE-UP AND TELEPHOTO A complete selection of o¢cessories and interchangeable lenses gives you trernendous scope with the PENTAX Single Lens Reflex Camera, Eleven superb Takumar Lenses—omong the finest In the world todey—range from 35 mmm. wide angle to 1,000 mm, extreme telephoto. bellows units, include clase-up lenses, extension tubes and rings, copy stands, microscope adap- for—aoll that’s needed for the scian- fist photographer. Accessories PENTAX .. . Japan's largest selling single lens reflex -comera. Three models available—priced fronp £65. asant PENTAX is perrection 266 Viel. Nat—Vol. 79 Preservation of Colour in Spider Specimens The preservation of spider specimens is fraught with difii- culties which are partly due to the presence of a fully ehitin- ized exoskeleton which prevents a rapid penetration of the body by any preserving solution. Besides, some of the liquids in use dehydrate the spiders and tend to shrink the abdomen, others make the specimens very brittle. However, jn all of them the colours tend to fade and finally to disappear if the spec- imens are preserved for lengthy periods. Some pigments are more resistant as, for instance, those of the beautiful spiny spider, Gastracantha minax, or the red of the red-fanged spider, Nicodamus bicolar, The red stripe on the abdomen of the red-back spider, Latrodectus hasseltii, however, fades rapidly in all commonly used preserving solutions, such as alcohol, glyc- erine aleohol, formalin, Kayser- ling solution and its modifica- tions, For this reason it was necessary to keep a few live red- back spiders at the Common- wealth Serum Laboratories for visitors who wished to see this dangérous spider. Recently, we have found that, a smal! quantity of lead acetate added to ¢lycerine-alcohol tends to preyent the fading of the red colour in these spiders. On the basis of some trials we think that it is possible to recommend our preserving solution to nat- uralists who wish to haye spec- By G. H. Karre* imens of these spiders preserved, The solution is prepared as follows: 100 ml, pure glycerine is mixed with. $00 ml, of 95 per cent alcohol or methylated spirits and to this an excess of lead acetate is added, The mixture is shaken several times during the follow- ing 3-4 days. It is important that at all times a layer of undlis- solved lead acetate should be in the bottle. Before use, the liquid is passed through filter paper and the clear filtrate is acidified with a few drops of glacial acetic acid, which prévents the formation of a white precipitate on storage, It is revommended to check the acidity of the sol- ution with a narrow range pH test paper, The pH of the final solution should be about 4-0. The specimens should be kept in a well-stoppered bottle which is filled up to the neck with this solution. After 3-4 weeks it is advisable to place the spiders in a fresh preserving soiution in which they can be kept indef- initely. We have so far kept red- back spiders in this solution for over a year and yery little, if any, fading of colour has orcur- red, Controls kept in cther pres- erving solutions have faded in 2-4 weeks, often to such an ex- tent that instead of a red stripe only a greyish stripe was visible. We have used this solution also for other coloured spiders and found it satisfactory, *From the Commonwealth Serum Leborpteries, Parksille, N.2, Victoria. Jonucry, \963 Flinders — its foreshore and fossils A eolourfu] early history and great géographical and geo. logical interest attach to the little town of Flinders, situated on the south-eastern corner of the Mornington Peninsula and the south-western end of West- ern Port Bay. It surrounds that bastion of rock called Weat Head, which stands guard over the western channel of the bay, George Smythe, in his survey of Western Port in 1841-2, mentions this headland as West Head; but a chart of Cape Schanck showing the po- sition of the proposed light in 1857 names it Black Head, and ag such it was known hy the early settlers. Early History The Department of Crown Lands and Survey has kindly provided the following interest- ing information: “‘None of the Surveys made by Flinders, Bags, or Lieutenant Grant in the Lady Nelson in 1804, shows any re- ference to this south-western corner of Western Port Bay as being named Flinders, However, the first survey of the Parish, connecting this area with the surrounding country lands (made by Charles Bone in 1857) bears the name Flinders, Follow- ing this it appears that the Township was named after the Parish, ag ig seen on a survey by M. Callanan in 1863, Officially Flinders was proclaimed a Land Act township in 1864". 268 By E. M. Davies Flinders was the celebrated navigator and explorer who eame to Australia as master's mate on the Reliazce, the vessel commissioned to convey Captain John Hunter to New South Wales in 1795, Hunter having been appointed as second sgover- nor in succession to Phillip who had retired owing to jll-health, The ship’s surgeon on the Re- Hance was George Bass, a man animated by a keen intellectual interest and unbounded enthu- siasm in the georraphical prob- Jems which then awaited solu- tion in New Holland, Flinders and Bass, beth Lincolnshire men, became close friends during the voyage and laid plans for Pursuing a course of discovery together. They did some intrepid exploration in a little tub of a boat, the Tom Thumb, and the heenness they showed in the tasks induced Governor Hunter to encourage them in further enterprises of a like character, Hunter later provided Bass with a whale-boat for the pur- pose of examining the coast to the south of Port Jackson, with orders to go as far as he could with both safety and conve- nience, In this whale-boat, with a crew of six, Bass rowed out from Sydney Harbour on Decem- ber 3, 1797. Passing Cape Howe, he commenced to make discover- ies on the comparatively un- known southern coast of Aus- tralia, On January 2, 1798, Bass discavered and entered Western Viet. Net—Vol. 79 Port, which he named because of its ‘relative situation to every known harbour on the coast’. After spending twelve days re- pairing and _ re-equipping the whale-boat, Bass had to turn re- luctantly homewards. He was loath to turn back at this stage, for he was perfectly convinced of the existence of a_ strait separating Van Diemen’s Land from the mainland. Eight months later Flinders and Bass, in the Norfolk, circumnavigated Van Diemen’s Land and Gover- nor Hunter, on the recommenda- tion of Flinders, named the strait in honour of Bass. The Coastline at Flinders Flinders township enjoys the advantages of both ocean and bay coastlines, The ocean coast- line, broadly speaking, consists of bold headlands separated by pronounced bays. The headlands are simple or compound, the simple form having one promin- ent point, and the compound form having two or more minor points, separated by tiny bays. The cliffs rise to as much as 260 feet above sea level. A factor in keeping the cliffs steep is the alternation of hard and_ soft rocks. The latter when under- lying the former are fairly rapidly eroded, so falls of the upper hard bands take place. The headlands usually have bare rock up to 25 feet above sea level, and some are clothed with scanty vegetation in their less steep upper portions. The coastline, pounded by the waters of Bass Strait, is youth- ful or early mature; which means that, in recent geological time, a change of sea level took place, resulting in a new irregu- lar shore line, The streams of the Bass Strait System have adjusted their valleys to the level of the sea that drowned their lower reaches and so flow in comparatively deep gorges near the coast. The Western Port Bay coast- line is smoother in outline and more mature. The headlands are comparatively low and narrow, with vertical rock faces rising usually only a few feet above sea level, beyond which are sloping vegetated cliffs. Long, wide rock platforms, composed Lincs wes EAD ELE NS r+ ZEQUTES BASS STRAIT LIGHTHOUSE I CAPE. SCHANCK ee AOS ae = Loeality plan of Cape Schanck-Flinders area. 1963 January, 269 Zeolites— Gmelinite and Analcite— from Flinders, either of tough grey basalt or of red or brown pyroclastic rock, are characteristic of both ocean and bay foreshores. Shingle and cobbles occur on some wave plat- forms and on most of the scanty beaches. Volcanic Rocks The bedrock of the Flinders area is an early Tertiary basalt which can be seen clearly in the cliffs. Bores show that it is many hundreds of feet thick. The great thickness of basalt at Flinders and Cape Schanck (about ten miles west) is thought to be an accumulation in a sunkland of lavas from all parts of the Westernport basin (Keble, 1950). At sea level the thicker portions of the flows have resisted coastal ero- sion and remain as stacks de- tached from the main mass. Zeolites in the Basalt One of the best collecting grounds in Victoria for zeolites 270 stretch of coast from is the Flinders to Cape Schanck, par- ticularly in the Simmonds Bay area. During low tide, zeolites, together with several other secondary minerals, can be col- lected from the cliffs and debris of the foreshore. A large propor- tion of the steam cavities in the basalt contain mineral matter, and groups of crystals frequent- ly line the larger vaughs. These minerals are secondary, having been formed by the solution of part of the more soluble consti- tuents of the basalt, with subse- quent crystallization in the cavities of the rock during the slow cooling from its once molten condition. “The slow cooling seems to be an important factor in their formation, as it is only in the thicker flows where the cooling would be most pro- longed that these minerals usually occur’ (Mitchell, 1931). The zeolites found are analcite, natrolite, phillipsite, gmelanite, stilbite, sphaerostilbite and cha- bazite. Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Miocene Marine Deposits A transgression of the sea in Miocene times was responsible for the deposition of the lime- stone that can be seen outcrop- ping at Flinders, on the bathing beach in front of the golf links. This limestone was deposited in an eroded hollow on the surface of the basalt, and similar lime- stone occurs near the Flinders jetty, north of West Head on Western Port Bay. Unfortunate- ly, this latter outcrop is usually covered by sand. At the west end of the former locality, a thin band of basaltic conglomerate may be seen separating the limestone from the main mass of basalt. This basalt is partly de- composed, with many joints in which carbonate of lime and magnesia have been deposited. The limestone has great quantities of bryozoa and for- 1963 January, aminifera, along with echinoid remains and calcisponges; gas- tropods and pelecypods are pre- sent, mainly as casts, and bar- nacle plates are numerous. The limestone at the base of the out- crop is almost pure white in colour and very friable; and in it foraminifera of 4-) mm. dia- meter are the commonest fossils. Higher in the sequence the lime- stone varies from yellow. to brownish, and bryozoa and calci- sponges are abundant with echi- noid spines and larger foramini- fera. There are several thin, undulating bands hardened by deposition of carbonate of lime, but most of the limestone is fairly porous. Analysis of a sample of the Flinders lime- stone showed that it contained 85.2%, of calcium carbonate, the residue consisting mainly of finely divided silica (Keble, 1950). Age of the Limestone The Flinders limestone is Batesfordian in age. This Stage has for its type section the Lepidocyclina-bearing limestone of the Batesford quarries (Singleton, 1941) namely, the upper part of the Batesford Limestone. Batesford is in the valley of the Moorabool River, about five miles north-west of Geelong, Victoria. The age of the Limestone can be determined by the foraminifera Lepidocy- clina, which belongs to the group of orbitoid species of consider- able importance in dating Terti- ary strata in all parts of the world. The earliest reference to these orbitoids in the southern Australian Tertiaries was made Zeolite—Natrolite—from Flinders, 271 by Howchin in 1889, from speci- mens at Clifton Bank, Hamilton. Crespin (1943) reports that the species Lepidocyclina (Trybliole- pidina) howehini is very com- mon at Flinders, and it is usually associated with Amphi- stegina and Calecarina verricu- lata at both Hamilton and Flinders. Bryozoa—those colonies of minute marine organisms that still live in the sea alongside— are an important part of the Flinders limestone. Like the foraminifera, these are charac- teristics of the limestone of the Batesfordian age. ‘Tertiary bryozoa appear to have been first collected in Australia by Captain Charles Sturt during his memorable boat voyage down the Murray River. Several forms were figured in his work, Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia, published in 1883. The specimens were ob- tained from the cliffs at North- West Bend, South Australia. In 1902, Maplestone published a very comprehensive list of “The fossil Cheilostomatous Polyzoa in the Victorian Terti- ary Deposits’, in which he listed 22 genera and 42 species from Flinders. The Cheilosto- mata exhibit the highest type of development and the greatest complexity of zooecial structure found among both living and ex- tinct bryozoa, and many are ob- jects of great beauty. The bryozoa at Flinders are reason- ably well preserved and it is not difficult to extract specimens from the softer parts of the limestone. The Flinders limestone is also noted for its fossil sponges (Calcispongia). The sponges of 272 this class (Calearea) form a sharply defined group and are distinguished by their calcareous spicules, the calcareous matter being largely calcite. Living calcareous sponges are exclu- sively marine and the group is world-wide in distribution. They are confined almost entirely to the shallow waters, and some live between tide levels. Repre- sentatives of the Calcarea are of importance in the _ geological record. Considerable interest was engendered in 1900 when Hinde published, in London, a paper on “Some remarkable Calcisponges from the Eocene of Victoria, Australia’, The article illustrates three genera from the Flinders limestone. The Flinders limestone with its abundance of Lepidocyclina foraminifera, bryozoa, calci- sponges, echinoderms and brachiopods indicates a warm, clear, shallow marine environ- ment. The prevalence of barna- cles probably indicates the proximity of a shore line. As the sea advanced over the solid basaltic bedrock, it received little terrigenous matter, and so the limey skeletons of marine organisms built up a rich lime- stone deposit. The uniformity of the lithology suggests a certain stability in the conditions pre- vailing during deposition of the limestone. List of Flinders Fossils PROTOZOA Lepidocyclina howchini Amphistegina Calearina verriculata PORIFERA Bactronella australis Plectroninia halli Tretocalia pezica (Trybliolepidina) Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 COELENTERATA Conosmilia anomala BRYOZOA Amphiblestrum annulus (living) cylindriforme sexspinosum Caberea grandis (living) Canda fossilis Cellaria australis (living) enormis laticella rigida (living) Cribilina dentipora terminata Farcimia lusoria Gmellipora polita Haswillia producta Hiantopora liversidget Lekythopora hysteria (living) kitsont Lepralia burlingtoniensis elongata Macropora centralis clarke Membranipora geminata macrostoma (living) marginata radicifera (living) Microporella macropora Mucronella conica Phylactella porosa January, 1963 Limestone outcrop, with basalt at base. Porina eribraria gracilis (living) larvalis (living) Retepora rimata Schizoporella alata convexa daedala (living) fenestrata phymotopora (living) Smittia ordinata reticulata (living) tatei Thalamoporella patula Tubucellaria marginata BRACHIOPODA Craniscus quadrangularis Margellania garibaldiana Tegulorhynchia coelata Terebratulina tateana scoulari suesst MOLLUSCA Ischnochiton sp. Conus sp. Marginella woodsiti Notohaliotis naevosoides Patellanax sp. “Turbo” aff. etheridget Turitella sp. Chalmys foulcheri gambierensis subbifrons Ostrea sp. Septifer fenestratus Venericardia delicatula ANNELIDA Tubes of marine worms ARTHROPODA Balanus sp. ECHINODERMATA Fibularia sp. Leiocidaris australiae Linthia sp. Monostychia australis Phyllacanthus dunecani Psammechinus woodsti PISCES Odontaspis contortidens Muraenesox obrutus 273 Calcisponges—Bactronella australis from Flinders. Directions to Localities LIMESTONE: At the eastern end of the Flinders township there is a cairn commemorating Bass and Flinders. From the cairn, follow the cliff road to St. Andrew’s Guest House. Two roads will be seen inside an open gate, the one on the left leading to West Head, the one on the right leading across the Golf Links to the bathing beach. Take the right hand road for approxi- mately half a mile where a sign will be seen saying “Danger, slow’’. Follow the track down the cliff to the second bay of the parking area. Here the limestone is easily discernable beside a small cave, half-way up the vege- tated cliff. This limestone con- tinues westward, behind the bathing boxes, for 100 yards past the last bathing box. There is a section jutting out from the cliff face where the best speci- mens may be obtained. ZEOLITES: Two miles west of Flinders, on the Rosebud road, a gate with a sign saying “Jennings’ Bluestone Quarries” will be seen. Walk along the private road leading to the quarry, then climb down the cliff to the beach. Walk along the foreshore for half a mile east- wards (back towards Flinders) and the zeolites will be found at the foot of the cliffs and in the basalt on the foreshore, The quarry is not suitable for collect- ing zeolites, and the gate is locked at the weekend. 274 REFERENCES Beasley, A. W., 1958. Collecting Zeo- lites near Flinders. Aus. Amat. Mineralogist. Sept. 67-69, Bowden, K. M., 1952. George Bass. Crespin, L., 1943. The genus Lepido- eyclina in Victoria. Proce, Roy. Soc. Vict, 55: 157-180. Hinde, G. J., 1900. able Calcisponges strata of Victoria Geol, Soc, Lond, 56: 50-66. Keble, R. A., 1950. The Mornington Peninsula. Geol. Surv. Viet. Mem. 17: 5-84, Maplestone, C. M., 1904. Tabulated list of the Cheilostomatous Polyzoa in the Victorian Tertiary Deposits. Proc. Roy. Soe. Vict. 17: 182-219. Mitchell, S. R., 1931. Zeolites from Flinders, Vict. Nat. 47: 26-28. Singleton, F. A., 1941. The Tertiary Geology of Australia. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vict. 53; 1-125. On some remark- from the Eocene (Aus.). Quart. J. Vict. Nat.—vVol. 79 Feeding Habits of Leadbeater’s Possum Very little is known of Lead- beater’s possum, Gymnrobelideus leadbeatert. A vecently collected specimen, however, afforded an opportunity to learn something of the feeding habits of this rare species, : The specimen, an adult female, was collected in a heavily for ested area, 6 miles SE Marys- ville, Victoria, by A, J. Coventry and H. EB, Wilkinson, on 28th April, 1961, and was placed in the collections of the National Museum. It was shot while rest- ing about eight feet above ground in a mint-bash, Prest- anthera lasianthes, in which it had been observed climbing about for a short while preyious- ly, The possum was collected at about 12.30 a,m., apparently after having fed. Subsequent examination of the entire stomach and intestinal A Pink Goodenia I have just been enjoying the scent of Goodenia grandiftora var. muecmillanti, whieh is flowering in the garden now, Its fruity scent is strongest at night. This native of the Macallister River area ts very distinctive. lts strongly ribbed stems are from one to three feet high, hollow, pith-filled, and very auce- ulent. The large soft leaves are divided into seven rather ragged- ly serrate lobes, the end one large, the smaller ones each with an even smaller stipule-like lobe at the base. By R. Mark Rran* content of this specimen yielded fragmented remains of an un- identifiable beetle (Coleoptera) and considerable remains of a cave ericket (Ovihoptera). The cave cricket, probably Anot- rechus unicelor, ig a nocturnal, non-winged form, about 25-30 mm. in length, and is found in tree holes and under bark. No evidence of vegetable matter was found in the stomach or intestines of this possum. Thus it appears that Gy7iino- belidus leadbeatert feeds upon orthopterous and coleopteraus insects, Other insects, such as moths (Lepidoptera), may be eaten as well, For the careful examination and identification of the insect yemains, I am indebted to Mr. A. N, Burns, Curator of Insects, National Museum, The flowers are axillary, with two at the base of each leaf, the second always a smal] bud when the first is wide open. The blooms are large—at least an inch across —and bright pink. They are usually deserihed as purple, but that. is the colour of the dried specimens, The petals (or calyx- lobes, since they are joined into @ split tube at the base) are broadly winged, as in all good- enias. The wings are bright pink on both sides, while the main blade of the lobe is pale green outside and mainly pink inside, *Curate? of Mammals. National Museum ef Victoria, Melbourne, Jormiary, | 969 275 However, the inside colour varies on the one plant, even on the one flower, from plain pink to white with pink, or purple veins. How- ever, Since the wings are larger than the blades, the general effect of the flower is bright pink, Although listed in our Census as the Large-flowered CGoodenia, I think we should calf the Vic- torian variety of it the Pink Goodenia. The three lower corolla-lobes are divided to the top of the tube, but the two upper ones are div- ided right to the base, where they fuse with the calyx. It is interesting that the calyx alse is split to the base, but at a pos- A Kingfisher Note Having a few spare minutes whilst at the Herbarium, I took my binoculars and walked into the Botanic Gardens as far as the Oak Lawn, Attracted by the strident high-pitched note of a cicada in trouble I locked up into an oak tree to see a Sacred Kingfisher {Halcyon sdnetus) perched on a branch with a large green cicada in its bill. The bird kept moving its bill up and down, tapping it on the branch and slightly opening and closing it, without releasing the cicada. The latter was placed so that it would have been looking straight down the kingflsher’s gullet. Slowly the head and thorax disappeared until only a shiny wing was visible on either side of the bill, giving the bird 4a somewhat ludicrous appearance, Then with a snap of its bill the wings too disappeared. 275 ition epposite the split in the corolla, So what one may call the two lines of weakness are not af the same point. The two upper, deeply divided corolla-lobes stand erect, bent towards each other and touching, like joined finger-tips. The baze of each of these lobes is narrow and stalk-like, and so widely separated that the stamens spill out through them, appearing as a pale yellow tuft undernesth the flower. However, the stigma, with its conspicuous hood or ind- usium, can be seen in the centre of the flower, framed by the two arched lobes. —Jtaw GaLsrarrn All this had civen me at least five minutes entertainment. The bird did nut; seem to pradually swallow the ci¢ada whole but apparently by moving the upper and lower mandibles was able to erush and break off portions of the insect nearest its throat and swallow these while still holding the remainder in its bill, Two days later near the same oak tree I noticed two Sacred Kingfishers and they soon showed me where they have a nest. In turn, about three times a minute, the birds were flying down to and entering a hole in the trunk of the oak, giving every appearance of feeding young, judging by the move- ments of the tail and back of the bird. They would Ay from the hole to a nearby branch and sit there without any apparent obtaining of food, and after an interval Vier. Nor—Vol, 79 fly back to the nest. Is it possible that # Kingfisher is able to eat a cicada or fish and then regur- gitate it in small quantities at fréquent intervals over a period Book Reviews of an hour or mure to féed its young? It is rather heartening to know that, within a mile of the City, a Kingfisher can nest. —E. R. ALLAN “My Wilderness —The Pacific West” Ry William O. Douglas, 206pp.) ilustrated, 8 va.; Doubleday, New York, U.S.A, The English-Speaking Union uperates a buok-exchan acheme called “Books Across the Sea'—a de- vive which helps the people at the re- ceiving end to leart In a pleasant Way something about their fellows at the giving end, The book under review js one that has arrived in this county froii the U.S.A., under the auspices of the scheme, and it has been donated to the FLN.G.Y. library. We are glad to be gtven the oppor- tunity of reading it, because of its natural histery mterest. Its aathor is one of a diminishing race. He is a bushwalker and mountaineer, a yambler in out-of-the-way places, a conservationist, a naturalisl who be- lieves in the value of knowing some- thing of the importance af evological factors and in applying the know- ledge in whatever action may be taken to preserve the wilderness cltaracter of his country’s “open space’. He is of a diminishing race only because each succeeding day brings a reduc- tion in the wilderness and open space available to his kind, The places of quiet and solitude, of peace and sere- nity, are new being invaded by roads and motor cars and what goes with them. The ever-growing throng of people who want to share the joys and satisfactions of the rambler in solitary places will inevitably be disappointed, for they will see a different scene and gee it with different eyes. Douglas is inclined to overdo his Word-pictures of scenery and 2ts com- ponent wildlife, to the extent of re- peating himself now and again; but scattered abundantly throughout the eleven chapters uf his boak is a record ef the observations of a very percep tive field naturalist who, during much of his life, has wandered footloose Januery, 1963 over the unfrequented parte of the Pacific west of the United States, His rambles have taken him from Alaskan shares tb the alpine meadows of Mount Adam, Hart Mountain, the High Sterras and Olympic Mountain, and to countless other secluded places, One detects a feeling of more than a lille regret for the fact that they now have to be Wlassed as "bnee se- cluded". Today, many of them) bave their formed roads in place of the old bridle tracks and trails. Bill-boards and motels ape maving in and the wilderness is receding before the bull- dover blade. Douglas does his best to show that the harsher environments of glaciers and precipitous prountains in wildhfe vefuges and nationul parks are likely to be the only placas left where anything resembling unspoiled ta- tore can persist, Even they are in Ganger of deterioration or, as some prefer ta describe it, “development”. Much the same thing is happening in our own country: the vaices in op- position are not yet strong enough to control 1¢, My Wilderress |g easy enough read- ing for anyone who would like lo know or, at least, eppreciste the philosophy whieh underlies the call for veatraint in develaping national parks or other nature reserves. Such a reader will gee that the apparently trrvial ob- servations of naturalists may provide many of the facts upon which the science of wildhfe ecology and the practice of wildlife management should be based, Without such an ap- preciation, these who administer and Nisbage our “open space” reserves, well-meaning as they qasy be, are apt to do them more harm than good. J. HK, Gaener 77 Field Naturalists General Meeting—Decvember & 1962 About a hundred rmerbers and friends attended, with the president, Mr. M. K. Houghton, in the chair. The affiliation with the PN_C.V, of the Robinvale Field Naturalists Club Was approved. A letter was read from the Mayor of Geelong appealing for contributions towards the proposed purchase of the Cuthbertson property on the Bellarine Peninsula as a nature reserve, The secretary announced that the profit from the spring vature show was ovet £100, of which 285 had been allotted to the Society for Growling Australian Plants. A letter of ap- preciation has been sent to the Aus- tralian Paper Manufacturers Ltd., following their gift to the Crown of the area containing the Den of Nar- gun, heat Glenuladsle, for dedication AS 8 national park. The subject for the evening was "The Horsham Excuysiva’. Mr, J. Begiey oullined the trip and apoke of the help ziven by members of thea Maryhoroveh, Hersham, Wimmera and Ballarat chabs. Mrs, M. Salau described the geology and the flora of districts ¥isited, including the Cosstick Reserve and native water holes near Maryborough, the Gram- bians, Little Desert, Black Range and Monnt Arapiles. A large collection uf pressed flowers, and fine colour slides, illustrated the talk. Members of the Bird Observers! Club lent exeellent pictures of some of the birds of the districts. The speakers were thanked for their interesting account of the excursion. Mr, M. Barrison brought a large wollection of marine life ffom Phillip Tsland, including molluses, sea urchins, holothevians, tunivates, crabs, biscuit Stars, sea stars and brittle stars. Other exhibits included a pink cicada that turns black on maturity (Mr. BE. HL Cophill), tube bivalves—Gusétreshagna tesmarica, Dacosta anatraiis and Humphreyia strangei—the valves of whieh are not apparent (Mr, C. J. Gabriel], live spiders of the penus Alvan (Mr. EB. Swarbreek), and Me, D. E, Melnies demonstrated a simple home-constructed microscope suitable for young naturalists 278 Club of Victoria Four members, whose names dpuear in the December Naturelst, were elected to the ranks af the club. Geelogy Group—November 7, 1962 ‘Twenty-one mambers were present, with Mr, L. Angior in the chair. Messrs. D. MeInnes and R. Dodds reported on the excursion, in conjulict- tion with country clubs, te Beaumaris and Fossil Heach, Mornington. collection of malluse fossils from the latter area was the result of att afternoon's work, The subject for the evening was a lecture by Dr. L. Finch, of the CS&LERO. on "Building Stones Throughout the Ages". The speaker traced the ose of stone in bulldine from the earliest times te the modern era. The various civilizations and their architecture were compared, and a workable classification explained. A geological approach te building stones was of assistance in solving many problems connected with sundstones, limestones, granite eta, Using a large collection of slides, the speaker was able to illustrate different monuments ald ancient. ruins from various parts ef the world, Exhibits: Septarjan nodule from Fossil Beaeh, Mornington, lignite and basalt from a section south of Foss!l Beach, atagonite from Cane Schanek (Mr. T. Sault); quartz pebble fram Pompeij with some of the original Roman mortar attached (Mr Shakespeare)_ Fauna Survey Grou\y—Lecember 6 The group's final meeting for the year was held in the library of the Fisheries and Wildlife Department. About twenty members ware present, as well as several visitors from other sections af the club. Mr. N, A. Wakefield spoke ol) the evalotion of marsupials, He ootlined the age und distribution in the ward of fossil marsupials and early placen- tal manimals, and jUustrated the relationship these bear in time to allied groups of ancient reptile-like mammals. Evidence of the early diverpence of marsupials and placental Vial Nui —Vol, 79 mammals from a common stock was discussed, as well as the independant. origin of monotremes. Simpson's classification of marsupials inta super- families was explained, and Ride's recent exposition of the inter-relation- ship of Australian groups and their lack of close affinity to American groups. Questions and discussion followed, and certain points were demonstrated by skull specimens of local species, Supper followed, and those present were then shown many of the animals which are at present. housed in the Wildlife Research Laboratory of the Department, Mr. R. M. Warneke gave details of recent collecting in the Grampians; and Mr, Wakefield reported obser- vations made in the Moroka River ares and the Benambra district, dur- ing the previous month, when an unsuccessful search was made for the evidence of rock-wallabies in nomhern Gippsland. Owing to proposed field activities of variaus members, it was decided not to hold the normal monthly group meeting in January. Affiliated Clubs Horsham F'.N.C.—Mrs, T, L. Mcken- zie, the secretary, reports a suceessful year with attendanees at meetings of up to sixty members and outings well patronized, The club expressés. appre- ciation of the work of the retiring president, Mr. E. Barber, who is leaving the district. His place as pres- ident is being taken by Mr. C. O, Kroker, Frankston F.N.C—This Club has recently held its annual meeting. Miss L. M. Noall has been elected president, and Miss J, Lett, secretary. There are 38 adult members and § juniors, Colac F,/N,C._—Colec reports that its “key" offeers for 1963 are Mr. M, Hodges, president and Mr, E. Perkins, secretary. Correction The title of the article beginning on page 232 of the December 1962 Naturalist and in the contents on page 223, should vead, Cape Sehaneck—its Camp and Caye- EXAKTA, PENTAX, PRAKTICA CONTAREX, BESSAMATIC . . All the famous brands Telephoto, Wide Angle Lenses Close-up Equipmerit HERBERT SMALL’S , CAMERAS ano SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THE NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER 259 COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE (Oppasite Hotel Australig! HERBERT SMALL'S — AT YOUR SERVICE FOR OWER 100 YEARS January, 1963 F.N.C.V. DIARY OF COMING EVENTS GENERAL MEBTINGS Monday, January 14, 1963.—At the National Herbarium, The Domain, South Yarra, commencing at 8 p.m. sharp, 1, Minutes, reports, announcements, correspondence. 2. Subject for Evening: Members’ Night. 3. Nominations for Membership, 4. General Business, 5. Nature Notes and Exhibits. 6. Conversazione. Monday, February 11—'‘Recent Biotic Provinces in the Eastern Pacific and their Fossil Equivalents”, by Professor Valentine. GROUP MEETINGS (8 pm. at National Herbariam, unless otherwise stated.) Wednesday, January 16—Microscopical Group, Monday, February 4—Entomology and Marine Biology; meeting at 8 p.m. in Mr. Strong’s rooms at Parliament House; enter through private entrance at south end of House. Wednesday, February 6—Geology Group: “Geology in Colour”, by members. ‘Fhursday, February 7—Fauna Survey Group: General Business. At Fisheries and Wildlife Department, commencing 7.30 p.m, F.N.C.Y, EXCURSIONS Sunday, January 20—Somers, bush and beach, including a safe swimming spot. Leader: Mr. A. J. Reid of the Children's School Camp, Somers. Fare 14/-, bookings with excursion secretary. Rendezyous, for private cars, junction Coolart and Plinders Roads, Somers, Bring two meals. CALLING ALL Nature Photographers! Select your equipment from WAGNER'S comprehensive stocks of Exakta, Leica, Pentax, Praktica, ete, also telephoto lenses, close up steachments; electronic flash and accessories, R. H. WAGNER & Sons Pty. Ltd. 43 Elizabeth Street (corner Flinders Lane) Telephone 62 3114 Also Chadstone Shopping Centre 280 Vict, Nat—Vol, 79 The Victorian Naturalist Vol. 79 (10) February, 1963 Published by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria In which is incorporated the Microscopical Society of Victoria Registered at the General Post Office, Melbourne, for transmission by post as a periodical 2/6 tal Bye. : BA Soe. ere "sg “Sey Be if + i i a a % o ’ Ta 4 ieee x g ; : ‘ t i a ad ” ? ‘@) ¢ & : ; Sp, Z . = a ee se ~ ee , * Magnificent stand of White Mountain Ash, Eucalyptus regnans, in the Marysville State Forest FORESTS COMMISSION VICTORIA preserving Es beauty of our rests Ie your enjoyment. 286 Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 Vol. 79 No. 10 February 7, 1963 The Victorian Naturalist: Editor: NORMAN WAKEFIELD, B.Sc. CONTENTS Articles: Derrimut, An Aborigine of the Yarra Tribe, by Cecily M. Tudehope 288 Further Sight Records of Leadbeater’s Possum, by W. H. Owen .. 292 Frogs of the Melbourne Area, by M. J. Littlejohn .. 2... 0. 4... 296 F.N.C.V. Excursion to Western Victoria, by J. M. Dinon .. .. .. -. 304 Features: Along the By-ways with the Editor: Kookaburras and Watite-binds, Ejection of Nestlings, Birds at Wyperfeld .. .. .. .. 294 Field Naturalists Club of Victoria: January General Meeting, Group Heres PoNGe 2 dt Tees oh BOE Diary of Coming Events .. .. .. : ele ee gee gee oh tee Le OLY Front Cover; — This is a photograph, by courtesy of the Fisheries and Wildlife Depart- ment, of a Squirrel Glider (Petaurus narfoleensis) from. the Rushworth district in north-central Victoria, The species is about twice as big as the common little Sugar Glider (P, breviceps) and it has a much more bushy tail and a somewhat longer face, Very little is known of the distribution of the Squirrel Glider in Victoria, so any local information about it would be of considerable interest, February, 1963 287 Derrimut — An Aborigine of the Yarra There were a few aboriginal Australians whose character, ex- pleits or personality gained them a piace of distinction in the early annals of the Port Phillip settle- ment. One such ahorigine was Derrimut (sometimes spelt Der- rimot, Derriemert, Derrimart or Derrihmart), who played an his- torically important role at the time of the first Furopean-abor- iginal eontact on the Yarra. Harly accounts of Derrimut’s ancestry are rather confused. For instance, he is described by Fawkner as a chief, which he could not have bhéen for two reasons; first, because he was immatare, and, secondly, because aboriginal tribes had no chief but only headmen or elders. Daniel Bunce claims that he was "King of the Werriby District”, and brother of Betbenjee of the adjoining district. Betbenjee— better known as Bebe-jan—was headman of the Kurung-jang- baluk, which inhabited the Wer- ribee River watershed at the time Melbourne was established, and was the father of Berak who, as far as is known, had no brothers, It is, therefore, more likely that Derrimut was his nephew and thus the 3on of one of the three "chiefs"’"—either the one called by Batman Jakka- jakka, or of Bungerim, who were neighbouring headmen of the Wurrunjerri clans and all signa- tories to the Batman treaty. This 288 Tribe By Crcity M. TupEHOPE ancestry would entitle him to the eventual headmanship which was always ascribed to him. An unpublished narrative manuscript of J. P. Fawkner’s in the Melbourne Public Library which, although dated and pre- sumably written in 1862, deals with the 1835 period, contains early references to Derrimut. This manuscript, which is of the greatest importance regarding the founding of Melbourne, is now being collated by me and will shortly be published with appropriate notes. In this docu- ment Fawkner describes his coming to the Yarra and his first contact with the natives there. He states that both banks of the river were lined with a huge assemblage of blacks who had heen gathered there by Buckley at Henry Batman's request to impress John Batman, who was hourly expected, with their num- hers. It will be remembered that Buckley had joined John Bat- man's party at Indented Head in August 1835, and the incident now referred to occurred on the Yarra on October 28, 1835, with members of both Batman’s and Fawkner's parties present. In the document Derrimut makes his entree to history as a young native who formed a spon- taneous friendship with a youth- Tul servant of Fawkner, William Watkins, and because of this attachment acquainted him of a Vict, Mat,—Vol, 19 conspiracy which had been en- tered into by the yisiting Goul- burn, Western Part and Barra- hool Hill tribes. The white men were to he wiped out so that the natives could take possession of all their goods. The Europeans were all busily engaged in build- ing Fawkner’s house, and the plan, according to Derrimut, was for two nalives to cover each man and at a given signal to strike the builders on the head with their stone axes, The abor- iginees had appeared friendly and were permitted in and about the camp, hence their hostile in- tentinns were not suspected, and it is certain their nefarious scheme would have succeeded but for the warning given by Derri- mur. An easy and entire mass- acre would have followed as the whites’ only arms were on board the schooner Hyrterprise, of which Mrs. Fawkner, Mys. Lancey and children, the sick mate and the cook were the only occupants at the time. The Melbourne blacks were more friendly to the white men than were their tribal visitors, but in spite of this Derrimut was hearly speared by them for his action, Whether heroism or treason or genuine friendship Prompted his action is not known, but it enabled Fawkner and his men to forestall the at- tack. (This incident will be des- cribed in detail in a Jater paper.) Tt is certain that Derrimut's warning hastened the end of his primitive way of life and the disintegration of his tribe, A massacre would have caused the withdrawal of any possible sur- vivors and the settlement of Port Phillip could well haye been de- layed for years. February, 1963 After vrecejying Derrimut’s assurance that the belligerent tribes had left the area, Fawkner was able to proceed with his building programme, Derrimut was forthwith rewarded by the sift of food and clothing from the grateful settlers. In fact, these people fed and clothed him for the rest of his life. To further the friendship, Fawkner says he often took-him in his boat when going on shooting forays, or down to the Bay. He, together With Baitbainger (Betbenjee), Negrinouli and Benbow, often formed a crew for Fawkner’s boat and assisted to lighten the Enterprise in bad weather to enable her to get over the bar at the entrance to the channel near Williamstown, Derrimut quickly learnt to shoot game for Fawhkner, Fawkner took Derrimut for a trip to Tasmania im the next year, 1836, An extract from Bert's News dated September 24, 1836, reads: The native From the Sethlement who first visited Launeeston with Mr. Fawkner was so pleased with What he had seen that on hie return he induced two others to visit the colony. Mr. Fawkner later brought them to Hobart Town and introduced them to the Governor, They were presented with a drummer’s dress—and proudly ware it. ... Gne was an athletic young jnan Derrahmert, the other not so active, Baitbainger. Mr, Fawkner had them clothed in labourer’s dress. Daniel Bunce speaks of this incident when he saye Tasmania was honoured by the arrival of some distinguished visitors from Port Phillip—the two chiefs, Derrimut and Betbenjee, accom- panied by the tall and gigantic Buckley, This author quotes a singular instance of the effect of ‘ 289 strong drink upon these natives. He states that on their arrival both chiefs became extremely In- toxieated and were very fil the following morning. Poor Derri- mut was induced to taste “a hair of the dog that bit him”, and recommenced his debauch. Bunce further states that Derrimut “re- rosins a drunkard to this day” (Australasiatie Rejyniniscences, Hobart 1857). On the other hand, Betbenjee was so disgusted with himself that he could never again be induced to taste spirits. It would seem that the next few years in Derrimut’s life were spent in and around the growing settlement. It appears strange that he was not a member of Captain Dana’s Native Police, which Force was inaligurated on February 17, 1842. Of course, he was recelying a pensiun Irom the original settlers he saved, and was regarded with favour by the Europeans, When not under the influence of drink, he apparently was a likable person, The his- torian, Cooper, says that Derrt- mut was a wellknown and popular figure in Prahran, and his constant companions were two aboriginal women and a number of miserable-locking dogs, Drink continued to take a harder toll qpon his constitution and we have a picture of a once- proud young savage turned to a dissolute, prematurely-aged man shambling around the streets of Prahran in his shabby, il-fitting European clothes. Derrimut is said, however, to have retained & proud spirit and in spite of his pension would not accept the white meii's ways completely. He Tetained his “freenom”’ to roam at will, even if it were only 290 around the streets of Prahran. A sad truth is that a black man in tattered garments looks infinitely worse than his white counter- part, and is held in contenrpt, even though hia condition is a direct result of European con- tact, In 1858 the Victorian Govern- ment appointed the Hon. T. Me- Combie as Chairman of a Select Committee of the Legislative Council fa enquire into the Pre- sent Condition of jhe Aborigines, In the Minutes of Evidence there are some direct references to Derrimut, Mr, Hull, J.P., a Dis- trict Magistrate, when ques- tioned concerning an incident which had recently oceurred, answered thus: Tn consequence of my net bringing Derimot to fustice for spearing at me, they had great confidence in me, That was at a corraboree somewhere near where the new Military Berracks are now building, and hts people flew upon him and threw him down upon the earth, and T walked off and escaped with my life. They knew that I was a Magistrate and expected that I should bring him up, but F did not do se, because it was my own fault; T did not know that he was the chief of the tbe and the head of the corroboree that wes going on, and he was drunk, and I called him a drunken fellow, and he immediately tock up a bundle of apéars, one of which he threw at me, and it went into « tree close ta me. My not taking any steps against him caused them to have great confidence jin me, and they used to came to my stove ab the corner of Little Plinders St. by the Queens Head Public House, and look at me and say, “Good fellow you”, and I found that I had their confidence, Further on in the question- naire proceedings, the Hon, T, MeCombie queried Mr. Hull: You have described a tase where a chief attempted to kill you when he was in a state pf inebricty; in this instance, doe you think that it waa Vict, Not—Vol, 79 from a public-house or from a private individual that he got the drink? Answer: I think that in that case it was from a publican. When I came back over the old punt-bridge, I said to the punt-keeper, “I have had a very narrow escape”, and he said, “I was very sorry to see you going over that way; I thought you would come to some harm, for that man Derrimut is a very dangerous man when he is drunk”, The remaining evidence given to this committee by Mr. Hull con- cerning Derrimut is also sig- nificant : Question: Is there any further in- formation you could afford to the Committee relative to the subject under consideration? February, 1963 Answer: In the Select Committee which sat in Sydney many years ago, a black, who was supposed to be civil- ized and christianized, was examined before the committee, and if this com- mittee could get Derrimut and exam- ine him, I think he would give the committee a great deal of valuable information with respect to himself and his tribe, which would be very interesting; he speaks moderately good English, and I was told by a black a few days ago that he was still alive, and that he “lay about in St. Kilda”. The last time I saw him was nearly opposite the Bank of Victoria, he stopped me and said “You give me shilling, Mr. Hull’. “No”, I said, “I will not give you a shilling. I will go and give you some bread”, and he held his hand out to me and he said “Me plenty sulky you long time ago, you plenty sulky me; no sulky now, Derri- mut soon die’, and then he pointed with a plaintive manner, which they can affect, to the Bank of Victoria, he said “You see, Mr. Hull, Bank of Victoria, all this mine, all along here Derrimut’s once; no matter now, me soon tumble down”. I said, “Have you no children?” and he flew into a pas- sion imediately, “Why me have lubra? Why me have piccaniny? You have all this place, no good have children, no good have lubra, me tumble down and die very soon now”. Derrimut’s own words as re- peated by Mr. Hull tell his own, and his tribe’s, sad story more succinctly than I could. Incident- ally, in the twenty-three years from the first contact with the whites, the membership of the Yarra tribe had dropped from about 300 to 33. In May 1864, Derrimut was taken in a dying condition to the Benevolent Asylum, where he died on May 28. This institution at the time stood at the end of Victoria Street, but was later moved to Cheltenham where it continues to this day as the Mel- Headstone of Derrimut’s Grave, Melbourne General Cemetery 291 bourne Home and Hospital for the Aged. Derrimut was buried in the Melbourne General Ceme- tery, and the following inscrip- tion appears on the stone above his grave: THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY A FEW COLONISTS TO COMMEMORATE THE NOBLE ACT OF THE NATIVE CHIEF DERRIMUT WHO BY TIMELY INFORMATION GIVEN OCTOBER 1835 TO THE FIRST COLONISTS MESSRS FAWKNER, LANCEY, EVANS, HENRY BATMAN AND THIER DEPENDANTS: SAVED THEM FROM MASSACRE, PLANNED BY SOME OF THE UP-COUNTRY TRIBES OF ABORIGINES DERRIMUT CLOSED HIS MORTAL CAREER In THE BENEVOLENT ASYLUM, MAY 28TH 1864; AGED ABOUT 54 YEARS, {Note: Their is mis-spelt “thier”? on the inscription. ] Later in that year, 1864, an application was made to the Trustees of the Melbourne Ceme- tery for a piece of ground to be set aside for the interment of aborigines. In the old cemetery the blacks had a corner allotted to them, but now, in the new ground, the bodies were buried in the space set apart for the Chinese and the practice of heathen rites by these people had led to some disagreeable results. Derrimut’s grave stands beside a Chinese grave altar, Derrimut’s name has been per- petuated in a little hill just off the Ballarat Road (at Deer Park). This elevation was orig- inally known as “Diarmid’s Hill’, and was renamed by the Morton Brothers who gave it the flattering title of “Mount Derri- mut”. This name they also ap- plied to their pastoral property, thereby honouring the native Derrimut, His name is further commemorated in the Parish of Derrimut (proclaimed 1860), a street in Footscray and another in Sunshine. Further Sight Records of Leadbeater’s Possum In the course of spotlight sur- veys of population densities of the Mountain Possum (Tricho- surus caninus) and the ring- tail (Pseudocheirus peregrinus), two sight records of Leadbeater’s Possum (Gymnobelideus lead- beateri) have been made which provide a minor extension of its range in the west-central high- lands of Victoria. 292 By W. H. OWEN In July 1962 one animal was seen in Shining Gum (Hucalyp- tus nitens) forest at Ben Cairn at an altitude of 3000 ft. The shrub layer in this area is well developed, consisting of Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata), Musk Daisybush (Olearia argophylla), Elderberry Panax (Tieghemo- panax sambucifolius) , and Christmas Bush (Prostanthera Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 lasianthos). The field layer con- sists of dense Poa australis tus- sock. When seen the possum was only a few feet above the ground in low scrub. The second observation was made in Mountain Ash (FE. reg- nans) forest along Black’s Spur road in October. A single animal was seen ina mass of Wire Grass (Tetrarrhena juncea) supported by a stand of Mountain Correa (Correa lawrenciana). Again the possum was moving in the shrub layer a few feet above ground level. As Wilkinson (1961) has pointed out, the absence of a gliding membrane, together with the club-shaped tail, spatulate digits, and prominent ears, read- ily distinguish Gymnobelideus from the Sugar Gilder (Petaurus breviceps) whose size, colour, and behaviour under spotlight observation are somewhat simi- lar. Both the above observations were made from distances of less than ten feet. These observations show that the distribution of Gymno- belideus extends from Lake Mountain at least 12 miles across to the western edge of the Moun- tain Ash forests from Black’s Spur across to Ben Cairn. Included in this area are the O’Shannassy, Maroondah and Badger weir catchment areas and the surrounding state for- ests. These areas have evidently harboured the build-up and spread of populations of Gym- nobelideus which, although ap- parently never common, must have been reduced to extremely low numbers by the 1939 fires. LITERATURE CITED Wilkinson, H. E., 1961, The Redis- covery of Leadbeater’s Possum, Gymnobelideus leadbeateri (Me- Coy). Viet. Nat. 78 (4): 97-102. The camera for the scientific photographer MICRO — MACRO. . . ULTRA CLOSE-UP AND TELEPHOTO A complete selection of accessories and interchangeable lenses gives you tremendous scope with the PENTAX Single Lens Reflex Camera, Eleven superb Takumar Lenses—among the finest in the world today—range from 35 mm. wide angle to 1,000 mm. extreme telephoto. bellows include lenses, extension tubes and rings, copy stands, microscope adap- tor—all that’s needed for the scien- tist photographer. PENTAX . . . Japan’s largest selling Accessories close-up units, single lens reflex camera. Three models available—priced from £65. ASAHI PENTAX IS PERFECTION February, 1963 293 With«the Editor - aed These columns are available each month for your nature notes and queries. Address your correspondence to the Editor, “Victorian Naturalist”, P.O. Box 21, Noble Kookaburras and Wattle-birds These notes come from Mrs. J. D. Callaghan of Lorne. They illustrate the problem which smaller birds have of protecting their young in the face of the predatory inclinations of our kookaburras. Hearing quite a commotion yester- day, in trees across the road, and see- ing downy feathers floating on the light breeze, we investigated and saw a large kookaburra holding a small bird in its beak and vigorously batter- ing it against the bough under its feet. Two other kookaburras, apparently young ones, were on boughs nearby, making raucous sounds and opening their beaks. Then we saw two Red Wattle-birds, which only that morning had been in our garden feeding a younger one, flying about distractedly and attempt- ing to attack the two younger kooka- burras. Apparently the older one was too much for them, for they did not attempt to disturb it. There was no sign of the young wattle-bird, except the mangled corpse in the old kooka- burra’s beak. The kookaburra then 294 Park, Victoria, flew with its prey to a larger gum-tree nearby, and continued to batter it until it was practically inside-out and could be eaten without feathers being swal- lowed, This morning we again saw kooka- burras and wattle-birds in the garden. Another young wattle-bird was feed- ing in a searlet bottle-brush (Cal- listemon rigidus) which is in full flower, A kookaburra—the same, we think, that had the young bird yester- day—flew down and perched on a tree stake several feet away. Immediately the two adult wattle-birds dived at it, but apparently without result, and then flew back and perched in a “yellow broom” (Viminaria juncea). Then the two young kookaburras came and perched nearby. One was driven off when a wattle-bird dived at it, and the second followed as the other wattle- bird got busy. Then the old kooka- burra left. The young wattle-bird, in the meantime, kept on feeding in the bottle-brush, and it continued to do so for some time, with the parents on guard, The kookaburras are apparently some of the several that come to be fed on scraps of raw meat. They seem to have replaced the magpies that used to come each day. Some of the latter Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 would take meat from my hand and even hop on to the platter when it was held out. Now it is the kookaburras that come whenever they hear the knife rattle on the wooden platter. Ejection of Nestlings In these columns, in March and May last year (Vict. Nat. 78: 328-9; 79: 10), some discus- sion took place on the question of young birds returning to the nest after having left it. Here are some further comments, by Mr. R. A. Storer, who initiated the original item. The swallows nested in the same position this year, under a penthouse roof covering a much-frequented path in our factory grounds. A brood was hatched and the young reached fledg- ling stage; then an interesting turn of events occurred. I noticed a group of work people watching the nest and, on making enquiries, was informed that they had been replacing the fledglings in the nest as the parent birds were ejecting them. The fledglings, on being ejected, had nowhere to perch and alighted on the ground and could not rise again, The work people concerned had taken this as meaning that the fledglings were not ready to fly. Although I watched the nest regu- larly last year and did not see any- body replacing the fledglings, it is pretty clear that this is what in actual fact happened. Also, I wonder whether the fact that the parent birds resort to ejecting the fledglings is the reason for them staying in the nest when replaced. One wonders if it was the parents’ action or some other event that caused the young birds to leave the nest in the first place. In any case, it is likely that subsequent handling of the fledg- lings further upset the parents. The result of it all seems to have produced an extremely mixed-up family. February, 1963 Birds at Wyperfeld Following are some notes on ground-frequenting birds in the Wyperfeld National Park. Mr. H. R. Hobson of Rosebery, who made the observations on No- vember 3, 1962, has written this report: The place concerned is a particularly good bird area, with one of the largest Lowan mounds in the park. The birds had been working on the mound since July, when the centre was open. The two are never very far away, and when I arrived on the scene at 11 a.m., the “nest” was partly open. At about 1 o’clock, one bird was sighted near it, and when I returned at about 4 p.m. the structure had been heaped over for the night. After my leaving the mound in the morning, the first bird recorded was the Shy Heath-wren (Hylacola cauta). Shortly afterwards, a party of Black- backed Wrens (Malurus melanocepha- lus) was encountered, with the prom- inent blue male leading. The Crested Bellbird, Orivica gut- turalis) could be heard at intervals, and I am positive this bird will re- spond to even a poor imitation of its call. The male bird was seen low down on some of the dry wood that is plentiful in the particular area. Next birds to be met were a pair of Chestnut Quail-thrush (Cinclosoma castanotum), accompanied by two young ones that could be triggered into flight by the slightest movement. There have been two pairs of quail- thrush in the area since my first visit, in July, and with caution I have learned to observe them, but the young birds are very wary. The next encounter was important to me, as it concerns a bird that I had not met before though, in the two years past, I had walked at least fifty miles seeking it. Two Spotted Night- jars (Furostopodus guttatus) had evidently been crouched together on the ground, and I saw them only when they flushed. They went straight up in the air, one to the left and one to the right. The left one flew only a short distance before grounding, and it provided an excellent observation. 295 Frogs of the Melbourne Area Eleven species of frogs are found within 25 miles of Mel- bourne General Post Office. Most of them probably once occurred across the region of maximum urbanization, but, except in a few pockets (e.g. parks and golf courses), they have yielded to the drastic environmental change. The peripheral areas, however, carry a relatively nat- ural assemblage, and it is in these parts that reasonable col- Above: Hyla verreaurt, Verreaux's Tree Frog Right: Hyla aurea, The Green and Golden Frog 296 By M. J. LITTLEJOHN* lections can still be made. Al- though discussion centres on the frogs inhabiting a particular area, these species also form the major component of the frog fauna of western Gippsland and south-central Victoria (includ- ing Geelong and Ballarat). The key and the descriptions are based on living adult frogs, and information on habitat, ap- proximate breeding season, mat- ing call and spawn is given for each species. Since our know- ledge of the larval stages of Vic- torian frogs is still very sketchy, tadpoles are not considered. Average body lengths (snout- vent) of adult individuals, to- gether with the range of varia- tion, are given with each descrip- tion. A short bibliography is listed at the end of the paper for those interested in obtaining further information. * Lecturer in Zoology, University of Mel- bourne. Vict. Nat.—Vol. 79 KEY TO SPECIES {Based on living adults) Lb. Pads or discs present on fingers and toes (Family: Hylidae) ._ .. 2 No pads or dises present (Family: Leptodactylidae) .- .. _4 2, Dorsolateral fold (along body at junction of back and side) preseitt, anviut long, conspicuous green and golden dorsal pattern - . Hyla aurea No dorsolateral fold, snout short, dorsal surface brown - .. ,. ,. -. 8 &, Finger pads wider than fingers, flanks pale to bright orange. Hyla ewingt Finger pads only as wide as fingers, flanks yellow with black markings. Byla verrcauxi 4, Metatarsal tubercle (shovel-—like Brojertion 7 on nding of Saeed siphheat (toad-like burrowers) .. .. -- No metatarsal tuberele .. ,. . &, Metatarsal tubercle fleshy, flat oval plan bh on ites. . Laanndynislas dorsalis Metatarsal tubercle sharp, black and horny, no gland on Jeg. 6. Lavge frogs (> 84 mm) lightly coloured in yellow-brown or olive ,, ., 7 Neobatrachus pictus nr Small frogs (< 33 mm) usually dark brown in colour .. .. , got. 5 7. Back pattern of several ogheplEneys brown and yellow longitudinal bands»... .. wh el .. ey Linaiodynastes poront Back puttern of clive green spots, a thin yallaws mid-dorsal stripe same- times present ,. .. cc. .. Limnodynastes tasmaniensis B. With the hind limb extended ‘fooward, fhe bass of the toes reaches the snout ., .. “|= 65 == - 2 With the hind limb extended forward: the tips ‘of the toe ‘reach ‘the 5b Shout -. 2 1k. ‘ 9, Ventral surface granular, white with Cvllection of voleanic Javas and obsidian from Lipari Telands and U.8.A, pitchstone fro Seotland, Pumies from New Guinea (Mr. A, Cobbett); fluorescent display using a short-wave lamp with calejte, wille- mite and scapolite (Mr, 1, Bunton); limestone from Green Gally, Keilor, showing Torantinifera under stereo- seapic microscope (Mr, D, Melnnes); collection of minerals from Inilia, in- cluding mica, garnet, feldspar, beryl, jade, galena, zine and {roy ore speci- mens from Tata Tron Works (Me. L. Bairstow): agates and chaleedony (Mr. and Mrs. K, Cheslin); aboriginal artifact for identification of stone (Mr. A. Scott); zeolites fram older basalt, Cape Sehanck (My, I. Sault), The meeting closed with the usual exchange of seasanai greetings be tween members. Microscopical Group—October 17, 1962 Mr EB. Le Maistre chaired this meeting Which was attended by six- Leen members. Ty the absence of a definite lettore the evening was de- voted to 3 genéral discussion of micro- scopy, Mr. D. McInnes pointed out ta the group the unfortunate fact thal young people these days were unable to ah- tein A simple and cheap microscope with low powers. Instead they or their parents are forced to buy instru- ments which have ouly objectives with very high powers of magnification which were af such low quality that February, 1963 they only amounted to being toys’. Mr, 1. Wootlard informed the group that a lap was being made which would he the property of the group and would be available for anybody to ise in cutting a thread in some metal tubing such as would take standard objectives. Thus jt will be pessible how to do something to help the young people to make their own microscopes and buy udditional ob- jectives of different powers as needed, The possibilities of frorescent Microscopy were discussed and it was decided to huve printed |n the club journal an article on all the details needed to obtain such with members’ owo inicroscopes. Mr. P, Gener¥ gave a short talk on some interesting aspects of aquatic entomblagy and, with the ald of a Projection microscope, displayed te the group some living specimens. Microseopics) Group—November 21, 1962 A special film night was held at the C.S.L8.0.,. Albert Street, East Meal- hourne, The first film, “The Biological Cantrol of Insects", whieh won tor the prodicer, Mr, S, Evans, an overseas award, is a film which not only has scientific interest but has such colour 86 to make its appeal much broader, Mr. Evans deseribed the way Ln which the film was produced and stressed the point that it was a group effort in which many specialists participated. Bach insect was filmed at the rost dramatic part of its complicated life cycle, and that was not always. easy. Some of the various episodes—espec- jially one where a wasp Was seen probe ing fruit for fruit Ay larvae with its avipositor—niust have represented 4 lot of work and patience, but the final result was well warth it. The second film, which was truly a Imicroxcdpic study, was. a colour time- lapse film, taken under phase contrast, of living cells jrom insert tisane, show. ing Various cytological changes taking Place. This film was Pissed bach a second time because of its particular interest to the microscop{sts present, Then groups of members were shown Mr, Eyans's camera aod iwicro- photographical unit, which consists of a Reichert micfoscope and a special stand to take a cine camera. Mr. Evans explained thet he used 309 the camera with its lens in when taking photomicrographs, and to over-: come the curved field usually present (which is not noticed when the micro- scope is used optically but is ob- noxious in photography) he ysed specially corrected lenses. The meeting was well attended and al were most enthusiastic about the ms, F.N.C.V. DIARY OF COMING EVENTS GENERAL MEETINGS Manday, February 11, 1963—At the Nations] Herbarium, The Domain, South Yarra, commencing at & p.m. sharp, 1. Minutes, reports, announcements, correspondence. 2 Subject for Evening: “Recent Biotic Provinces in the Eastern Pacific and their Fossil Equivalents”, by Professor J. A. Valentine. a. Election of Members: Ordinary Members: Mrs. Margaret Lieberman, 11 Fulham Avenne, Sonth Yarra (M. Allender’ A. Qrassick). Mr. F. J. Glendinnen, 72 Napier Crescent, Montmorency (E. H. Coghill/J. R- Hudson). Mr. F. Collet, 21 Tennyson Street, Hithett, S.21 (©. Swarbreck/M, Houghton). Mr. Ernest N, Francis, 258 Waverley Road, Bast Malvern (8. H. Coghill/M. Houghton), ee one Jernakov, 22 Roxburgh Street, Ascot Vale (KE. SwWarbreek/H. ewart). pA a = Kelly, 260 The Boulevard, East Ivanhoe (E. H. Coghill/J. R. udson >). Mr. A. F: Stewart, 23 Gentral Avenne, Moorabbin, $.20 (E. H. Coxhill/J. R. Hudson). Joint Ordinary Member > Mrs, F. Collet, 21 Tennyson Street, Highett, 5.21 (EB. Swarbreck/M. Houghton), Country Membera: Mr. Harry A. Dade, 10 Denson Street, Benalla (&. Harrison/E. H, Coghill). Mv. Robert F. G. Swinbourne, Box 210, Alice Spiings (J. H. Willis/M. Allender). 4. Nomination for Membership. §, General Business, 6. Nature Notes and Exhibits. 7, Conversazione. Monday, March 11, 1963—“East African Animals", by Miss M. Field. GROUP MEETINGS, ETC. (8 p.m. at National Herbarium unless otherwise stated,) Thursday, February 14—Botany Group. Dr. M. Chattaway; flowers”. Wednesday, February 20—Microseopical Group. Friday, February 22—Hawthorn Juniors. At Hawthorn Town Hall Mr. D. McInnes: “First Steps to Know Your Gum-trees”- Monday, March 4—Entomology and Marine Biology Group, This group meets in Myr, Stnong*’s rooms at Parliament House. Enter through private en- tratice at south end of House. Wednesday, March 6—Geology Group. MeInnes. Thursday, March 7—Iauna Survey Group. At Fisheries and Wildlife Depart- ment, commencing 7,30 pm. 310 “English Wild- “Physics and Geuvlogy", by Mr. D. Vict. Nat—'vol. 79 The Victorian Naturalist Vol. 79 (11) March, 1963 Published by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria In which is incorporated the Microscopical Society of Victoria Registered at the General Post Office, Melbourne, for transmission by post as a periodical 2/6 318 Nest of Helmeted Honeyeater The photograph was taken by Charles Barrett, Creek near Upper Beaconsfield, about thirty years ago. It is doubtful if the species survives there now. This picture, and several others, accompanied the articles that comprised a special issue of the Nat- uralist, in November 1933, devoted to Meliphaga cassidix, Victoria's one endemic bird. along Cardinia Vict. Nat.—Vol 719 Vol. 79 No. 11 March 7, 1963 The Victorian Naturalist Editor: NORMAN WAKEFIELD, B.Sc. CONTENTS Articles: Sub-fossils from Mount Hamilton, Victoria, by N. A. Wakefield .. 323 The Mount Hamilton Lava Caves, by C. D. Ollier .. .. .. 2... .. B31 Occurrence of the Western Pigmy Possum, Cercaértus concinnus, in Victoria and New South Wales, by R. Mark Ryan ...... .... 337 Features: Along the By-ways with the Editor: Botanical Notes from Gippsland, Gannets of Cat Island, Abnormal Colouration in Orchids, Blowers Interstate): sane ere hie ce Oe 320 Field Naturalists Club of Victoria: February General Meeting, Group Meetings .. .. .. .. ........ 340 Diaryot ‘Coming vents-5 me as tu. hel oa MRO a eee A al ical eee BOs Front Cover: A view of Tali Karng, looking east from Echo Point, on Riggall’s Spur. The lake is half hidden by the upper part of the Barrier. Its area is about 23 acres, with a greatest depth of 150 ft. It is situated at an elevation of 3100 ft. above sea level, with the north-west knob of Mount Wellington rising 2000 ft. above it (on the right). These comments, and the photograph, appeared in the Victorian Naturalist of June 1907, accompanying an article on the Mount Wellington district, by E. O. Thiele. March 1963 319 Saag Editor aid With»the These notes and queries. Address your correspondence to the Editor, “Victorian Naturalist’, P.O. Box 21, Noble Park, Victoria. columns are available Botanical Notes from Gippsland With the formation of the Bairnsdale Field Naturalists Club two years ago, the natural history of eastern Victoria has been given its full share of atten- tion. Here are some notes, and not a few questions, from one of that club’s members, Mr. L. A. Fell of Metung: Wildflowers have been particularly good in the East Gippsland region this past spring, and Bairnsdale natural- ists have had some interesting travels to wildflower areas. Unfortunately, if anything has been impressed on us, it is the rapid advance of the bulldozer and the retreat of native vegetation. This is evident everywhere but par- ticularly in the Dutson and Marlo Plains areas, both of which are par- ticularly rich in species of some rarity. South of Sale, through Dutson to- wards Loch Sport, on the strip of land between the Lakes and the ocean, are masses of native plants whose home is in the poor mineral-deficient areas of grey-white sandy loams, Apart from banksias and tea-tree (Leptosper- 20 wy ) each month for your nature mum), there were large areas of Ricinocarpus pinifolits (Wedding Bush; and why can't it be grown in gardens?), two beard-heaths (Leuco- pogon), Astroloma, Brachylama, Caly- trix tefragona in biggish patches, and Dampiera stricta. Among the rarer ones are Thiyptomene miqueliana and Boronia anemonifolia (Lemon-scented Boronia). There are plenty of Pime- lea, Correa and bush-peas. Why doesn’t somebody get out a simplified identi- fication list for Pultenaea, Dillwynia and similar groups? At present it is a botanist’s job to identify them. A few days after the Dutson excur- sion, I was up on the 2000-feet level, on a forestry road north of Bruthen, and saw apparently the same Damp- iera stricta growing in a 40-inch rain- fall area in heavy shaley clay. Does anybody know anything about the pH values that limit the growth of native plants? On this same mountainside was Goodia latifolia, but it was not seen until about the 30-inch isohyet, and this indicates that rainfall is a limiting factor in its spread, as I have never seen it much this side of Orbost (30 inches) along the Highway, but it is common as the rainfall increases further east. It does not like poor soil. Vict. Nat.—Vol 79 North of the Princes Highway, east of the Tambo River, the Colquhoun forest is an area of poor dry clayey soils that nevertheless has some wild- flowers of interest. One of these is Gompholobium huegelii. In this area at any rate it grows only on soils with a clay base, and in this particular forest it seems to be attractive to kangaroo and wallaby, as every plant has the top nipped off. Diuris sul- phurea also can be seen. Along the coast, east of Marlo, I checked forty-two species of wild- flowers, of which eleven were bush- peas or their allies, This area does not seem to have the rarities found around Dutson but is nevertheless most in- teresting. At Lake Tyers a few days ago, within a small area, we found Lepto- spermum lacvigatum, L. coreaceum and L. attenuatum, In the same area are quite a few bushes of Elaeocarpus reticulatus, the blueberry. The problem which confronts the non-scientific naturalist when he attempts to identify species of Pultenaea or such genera which contain suites of similar species, is a very real one. It would be impossible to produce a really simple key to the fifty or more Victorian members of the bush- pea genus, or even to cover the two dozen of them that occur in East Gippsland, We can look for- ward however to the second part of J. H. Willis’s Handbook to Plants in Victoria, in which keys to Pultenaea and other large groups will be presented with the maximum of simplification which is compatible with accuracy. In justice to the wildflowers of the Marlo Plains, one must men- tion the abundance of Small Waxlip (Glossodia minor) im the early spring, the Bonnet Orchid and Furred Tongue-orchid (Cryptostylis erecta and C. hunteriana) in summer, besides such species as Bossiaea ensata, Hybanthus vernonit and Leuco- March 1963 pogon esquamatus, all of which may be seen in or about the 3-acre wildflower sanctuary near the Marlo racecourse. We await Willis’s book too, for a clear exposition of our twenty- odd Victorian species of Lepto- spermum. The Green Tea-tree (coreaceum) is confined to the north-west; and it is probably merely a variety of L. laevi- gatum, Furthermore, the true L. attenuatum is the paper-bark tree plentiful on the heathland flats of the Genoa district, where- as the widespread riparian shrub which used to pass under this name is correctly known as L. sericatum, Gannets of Cat Island A note from Mr. Leonard E. Wall of Hobart, refers to the picture and comments published in the January Naturalist: The photo on the cover shows Gannets nesting at Cat Island, and you ask whether they still breed there. As far as I know, a few, possible twenty, were reared last season, but it is extremely doubtful whether that will continue for many years. For about twelve years after the last war, the Tasmanian Fauna Board posted a warden on the island through- out the breeding season to prevent raids by fishermen, who used the birds for baiting their crayfish pots, and so try to build up the breeding pop- ulation. This was not successful, and the Board reluctantly gave up the project two years ago. We fear that the rookery is doomed. Abnormal Colouration in Orchids Mr. Wall commented also on the notes published under this heading in the “By-ways” col- umn of the same issue (Vict. Nat. 79: 264): Your correspondent, T. L, Richard- son, reports albinism in the Fringed 32] Spider-orchid, and asks whether the phenomenon is unusual. In my favour. ite orchid patch not many miles from Hobart I have frequently found ecal- adenias (both dilatata and caudata) of a plain creamy colour. I have one of the latter growing in a pot. Flowers Interstate Miss Jean Galbraith has been on a northerly excursion. Here are her comments on two very beautiful native wildflowers which, in Victoria, have very limited distribution: It is interesting to see, in other states, plants growing abundantly which we regard as rarities. For example Goodenia barbata, which few of us have seen growing in its East Gippsland habitat, is abund- ant north of Coonabarabran in New South Wales, where we walked through its stiff scarcely spreading bushes, up to shoulder high, dotted with large Dampiera-like mauve flowers and so glandular that they were noticeably rough to the touch. Similarly, on top of a granite ridge in southern Queensland there were dozens of bushes of Stylidiuwm larici- folium, not small ones as they are at Wingan Inlet but bushes up to a yard across, densely leafy, with flower- stems a foot or more above the leaves bearing clouds of little pink flowers. The growth pattern of this giant trigger-plant is remark- able, and the size it attains de- pends on how long its enemies —bush-fires, browsing animals, and perhaps adverse seasons— allow it to grow. In its first flowering season (probably at two years of age) the stem is undivided, about 18 inches high, and surmounted by an inflorescence something over a foot long and several inches across. After the inflorescence withers, four laterals grow from Giant Trigger-plant near Wingan Inlet. Photo: N. A, 322 Wakefield, its base, each attaining about 18 inches in length and producing its individual inflorescence. Few plants are allowed to pro- ceed further, but if they do, the geometric progression continues, and in its third flowering season, the trigger-plant has sixteen branches and sixteen inflores- cences. One such plant was seen near Wingan Inlet in East Gipps- land on December 5, 1948, and, though not technically good, its photograph is reproduced here to vindicate our Victorian col- ony of the species. With the scale of the picture half-an-inch to the foot, it can be seen that the plant is six feet high, its foliage spreading three feet and its in- florescences with a spread of four feet six inches. Vict. Nat.—Vol 79 Sub-fossils from Mount Hamilton, Victoria Between May 1961 and Feb- ruary, 1963, members of the Cave Exploration Society of Victoria and of the Fauna Survey Group of the Field Nat- uralists Club of Victoria made collections of sub-fossil bones in the main lava cave at Mount Hamilton, 110 miles west of Melbourne. Some of the material is now in the palaeontological collection of the National Mus- eum of Victoria, and the remain- der of it is to be placed there also, By this means, all the Mount Hamilton material will be keni, together. The tunnel system has yielded remains of about 290 native mammals, representing 26 species, Of these species, three are prehistoric, two are known as modern animals only from Tasmania, and another ten spe- cles are today no longer present in Victoria. A few of this last category have become extinct since European occupation of Australia. Some of the species represented have not been recor- ded previously for Victoria. Thus the animal remains from Mount Hamilton provide valuable data on past distribution of native mammals, Furthermore, the species represented indicate that climatic and vegetational chan- ges have occurred in the locality during the period of deposition of the bones. Much of the bone material was of the consistency of wet chalk, and many specimens were dis- turbed and crushed by cave explorers, while others were March 1963 By N, A. WAKEFIELD* fractured by handling in the process of collecting. When dried out, however, bones hardened and became quite durable. Most of the Mount Hamilton specimens have become pig- mented, and individual bones may be light orange in colour, for example, whilst others are dark reddish-brown. The rate at which this pigmentation has occurred in a specimen would depend partly on the wetness of its location, and this varies ereatly throughout the cave system, Nevertheless, there is some correlation too between ealouration and antiguity, so degrees of pigmentation are noted in the following diseus- sion. SUMMARY OF SPECIES Family Dasyuridae Sminthopsis crassicaudata. Three specimens were found, each with all or most of the skeleton present. Qne was 4 little pigmented, but two retained the colour of fresh bone, Today, the Fat-tailed Dunnart is scat- tered on the northern and wes- tern plains of Victoria. Dasyurus quoll. There were skeletal remains of at least twenty individuals, the bones ranging in colour from ivory te red. The greater proportion of these appear to be quite modern. The quoll population of south- eastern Australia was almost *Department of Zouloky und Comparative Physiglogy, Monash University, Claytun, Victorle. 323 climinated by an epidemic about 1902, but it sorvived on the Western District basalts until at least 1986 (Littlejohns, 1938). Dasyurops maculatus. The species is represented by mat- erial of two or three animals, and all of it appears to be old —either strongly mineralized or deeply pigmented. The “tiger-cat" survives in seattered localities in southern Victoria, During the past two years, it has been recorded sev- eral times about the Otway Ranges and once in the basalt country at Tyrendarra, towards Portland, Sarcophilus harrisii. The Tas- manian Devil was well represen- ted, and specimens were found of about sixty individuals, Much of the material is deeply pig- mented, but many specimens appear to be quite modern, One mandible still had pieces of dried tissue adhering to the bone. Asa living animal, the species is confined te Tssmania. How- ever, fossil and sub-fossil re- mains of it have been recorded from many places in southern Australia, including several local- ities in central and western Victoria, Radiocarbon dating has determined the age of the site of one Victorian specimen as 550 +200 years B.P. (Gill, 1958), Thylacinus cynocephalus, A maxilla, a déntary aiid some limb bones, presumably of the one individual, were found asso- ciated. The dentition was juven- ile, with the posterior molars not erupted. The specimens are neither mineralized nor deeply pigmented, and therefore do not 3249 appear to be very old, However, they were located in a relatively high dry position in the tunnel system. As an extant animal, the thy- lacine too is exclusively Tas- manian. On the Australian main- land, foasil records indicate a previous distribution similar to that of the “‘devil", though there are fewer specimens of the former. In Victoria, thylacine remains have been found pre- vionsiy near Gisborne and along the lower Glenelg River. (Gill, 1953). Family Peramelidae Isoodon obesulus, There were skulls and mandibles represen- ting about four adults and one juvenile. but the degree of pig- mentation varied. The Short-nosed Bandicoot is extant in near-coastal districts of Victoria and about the Gram- pians, but available information does not inchide the basalt plains in its present distribution. Perameles gunnii. The Barred Bandicoct provided remains of about eighty individuals, the epecimens ranging from modern- looking to apparently quite old. The species still survives on the western basalt plains of Victoria, Family Phalangeridae Trichosurus vulpecula. There were specimens representing three adults and two juveniles. One of the latter still had much black organic matter about the akeleton, but other material appeared to be quite old. Family Phascolomidae _ Phascolomys mitchellii, Skull parts were collected of two adults Viel, Ner—Val 79 and one juvenile, all apparently quite old, The Common Wombat is plentiful in central and eastern Victoria, but in the south-west it occurs only in isolated areas. Family Macropodidee Bettongia gaimardi A strongly pigmented skull and a modern- looking ramus, both with juven- ile dentition, correspond closely to sub-fossil specimens from Buchan (Wakefield, 1961) and to modern material from eastern New South Wales. As well, an adult maxilla was found, of the same species but with heavier dentition than in other adult Victorian specimens. There are museum specimens of this bettong, taken in, central Victoria about a hundred years ago, but tt no longer exists in this state. Bettongia lesueur, There are well-preserved alkulls and man- dibles of several individuals, all of which are deeply pigmented, The “boodie” is a burrowing species, inhabiting semi-desert areas of Australia. There is no modern record of it for Victoria, Several, secured by the Blandow- ski expedition in 1867, have been labelled as from the “junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers", but they probably originated a considerable dist- ance north of the Murray. Aepyprymnuus rufescens, In the Mount Hamilton lava tunnels, specimens of the Rufous Rat- kangaroo were more abundant than those of any other mac- ropod. The species was repres- ented by remains of at least twenty individuals, most of which were juvenile. In age, the March 1963 material appears to vary Trom fairly modern to quite old, Last céntury, A. vrufescens was. known as a living animal in north-central and north-esst- ern Victoria, but it no longer survives in this state, Potorous tridactylus, There was the skull of one juvenile individual and this shows a medium degree of pigmentation, The potoroo still exists in the Portland district and about the Otway Ranges, in southern Victoria, Onychogalea unguifer. There were specimens of several man- dibles and one maxilla, repres- enting at least six individuals, all juvenile. Most of the material is deeply pigmented, but other appears to be, fairly modern, Troughton (1957) states that the distribution of the Sandy Nail-tail Wallaby is ‘from the Broome district of north-western Australia, around the Northern Territory, to the Normanton district ,.. of Queensland”, and that it is “almost entirely coastal", Though far removed from the present habitat of the species, the Mount Hamilton material can be identified, amongst mod- ern Australian macropods, only as O. unguifer. Compared with specimens from northern Aus- tralia, this Victorian cave mat- erial is similar in size and shape of the teeth which are present {lower incisors, premolars and some molars) as well as in shape and sculpture of mandible. In the southern specimens however, the coronoid process is broader than in those from the north. A25 Onychogalea fraenata,