io4 'Dkijb.y, Alpine Gippsland. [v(^"^xxxiii 



The fauna of the district is not very diverse or abundant. 

 Kangaroos are fairly numerous in the forests to Dargo ; the 

 Native Bear is seldom seen, a disease evidently being prevalent 

 among them which has considerably reduced their numbers. 

 Wallabies are only occasionally seen ; Opossums have been 

 almost exterminated ; Native Cats, once so numerous, are nearly 

 extinct ; " Paddy-melons " extremely rare. The one animal 

 that seems to maintain its own is the Wombat, whose tracks 

 are seen everywhere. It is said to be on the increase. The 

 Platypus, another protected animal, has been almost trapped 

 out of the Gippsland rivers for its fur. Birds in some parts 

 are fairly numerous. Wonga and Bronze-wing rise in whirring 

 flight. Lyre-birds are to be heard, sometimes seen, in the 

 fern gullies. I saw a beautiful tail for sale whilst in the moun- 

 tains. The Satin Bower-bird is seen also along the rivers, and 

 fairly tame. At Waterford a Blue Wren came on the floor of 

 the room where I was having tea, and picked up cnimbs fear- 

 lessly. A White-capped Robin kept me company for some 

 distance on the way to Grant. At the Crooked River school, 

 where I went to get a drink of water, a community of Choughs 

 flew down with confidence. They nested in the school-ground, 

 and I afterwards found that the children encouraged them. 

 At Mr. Spall's, where I stayed overnight, two HaiTnonious 

 Thrushes hopped about the kitchen door unafraid. Another 

 tame bird was the Black-and-White Fantail, a universal 

 favourite. Other birds noticed were the Friar-birds, or 

 Leather-heads, now somewhat scarce, the Noisy Miners, Rufous 

 Fantails, Acanthizas, the Bell Magpies (with nest). Kookaburra, 

 White Cockatoos, Galahs, Blue Mountains, and the Lories, a few 

 Magpies only on the clearings, the Eaglehawk, Brown Harrier, 

 and Mopoke, a Black Duck, White-fronted Heron, and occasion- 

 ally the Coachwhip-bird, from the safe shelter of thick foliage, 

 sounded its passionate note. One misses in the mountain 

 streams the " tink-tink " of the Bell-birds that haunt the 

 lower reaches of the rivers and lake valleys. A Scarlet-breasted 

 Robin was seen near the cairn on Mount Wellington, 5,363 feet 

 above sea-level. On the ranges bird-life is not very abundant, 

 but in the sheltered valleys along the water-courses, especially 

 after daybreak, the forest warblers are frequently noticeable in 

 song and flight. 



"The Gum Tree." — The issue of a high-class quarterly 

 journal, under the above title, is announced by the Australian 

 Forest League, Victorian Branch, for which a publication fund is 

 being established. Particulars can be obtained from Dr, Heber 

 Green, University, Melbourne. 



