president's address. 29 



Banksia erictfolia. We found that the average number of flowers 

 on a head was 900. Then, takinu' :ill tlie heads more than one year 

 old, we fonnd that only 001 per t-ent. of tlie flowers had developed 

 fruits. Usually one finds a large number of old cones without a 

 single fruit, and then one with from twelve, up to twenty. In one 

 instance, we found forty fruits on a single head. I attribute this 

 to the fact that, wlien tlie birds find a liead with plenty of nectar, 

 they worlc over it again and again. In West Australia, I noticed 

 that the Banksias al)out Perth bore comparatively few fruits, while 

 those round about Albany fruited very freely. This arises, I 

 tliink, from the fact that the honey-eaters are much more plentiful 

 at the latter place, and perhaps also from the presence of Tarsipes, 

 which is still found in that neighbourhood. 



Mr. Musson and Mr. Carne have been good enough to supply me 

 with some interesting observations on bird-pollination, but, unfor- 

 tunately, I ha\e mislaid their very accurate series of notes on tlie 

 pollination of Grerillea rohnsta, illustrated Avitli photographs. 

 The notes showed that the flowers, at different stages, took up 

 different j^ositions. and that these changes were related to the 

 habits of the birds in visiting the blossoms. I hope Messrs. Musson 

 and Cai-ne have copies of these notes, as they certainly should be 

 ]iublished, and would form a notable addition to our knowledge 

 of bird-pollination in Australia. In one of Mr. Musson's notes, he 

 says the Silver-eyes come to the underside of the horizontal spike 

 of flowers by swinging the l)ody round to get at the nectar. He 

 also mentions tlie bees, and a motli, apparently a species of 

 AgTostis, frequenting the flowers. Another interesting observation 

 was made at Lindfield. An Acacia, probably .1. suaveolens, Avas in- 

 fested with numbers of the Berry-scale {Lecaninm haccatum), and 

 these excreted large drops of honeydew. Two individuals of the 

 tufted honey-eater, FtUntis (niricfnnis, were seen feeding on the 

 drops of sweet fluid. None of the scales were damaged ; the birds 

 were undoubtedly after the honeydew. This is an interesting 

 observation, as it shows that the Meliphagidae will go to any sweet 

 fluid they detect. It is tolerably certain, therefore, that they will 

 visit nectar-bearing flowers whicli tliey cannot pollinate. 



