526 NOTES ON AUSTRALIAN EARTHWORMS, 



paddock on the farm where I procured my specimens, a sand pit 

 shows about 6 feet of soil resting upon sand. The sandstone is not 

 everywhere covered, for about half-a-mile from this farm it 

 crops out in precipitous cliffs, and a little further off there is an 

 uncovered tract of about 100 acres, the stunted vegetation of 

 which both as regards its general appearance and the species of 

 plants, presents a striking contrast to the surroundings, and 

 instantly calls to mind the neighbourhood of Sydney. Elsewhere 

 the large size of the Eucalypts, the abundance of tree-ferns, and 

 the large tracts of thick Sassafras brush, much of which however 

 is now being cleared, testify to the' richness and fertility of 

 the soil. 



In this locality I have obtained examples of four new, and one 

 undescribed species of earthworms. One of these (Didymogaster 

 silvaticus) seems to be restricted to the Sassafras brush, where it is 

 to be found in and under rotten logs, on the substance of which it 

 feeds. From information kindly given me by Mr. C. S. Wilkinson 

 I have since found this worm under similar circumstances in 

 Sassafras Gully near Springwood on the Blue Mountains. The 

 first specimens of this species which I saw were shewn to me some 

 two years since by Mr. Haswell, to whom they were given by 

 the Hon. James Norton. It seems to be a common worm in the 

 brush country, as there are specimens of it in the Macleay 

 Museum from Jervis Bay, and from an unknown locality, possibly 

 Springwood, from which place also I believe Mr. Norton's 

 examples came. I did not find it at Mt. Wilson though it 

 probably occurs there. 



The other four species all live together in the more open country 

 timbered with Eucalypts, though they may also inhabit the rich 

 soil of the brushes. As yet I have collected only in a few paddocks 

 on one farm, so that it is quite likely I that other worms remain 

 to be discovered in the district, which is occupied by dairy 

 farms, agriculture not being carried on to any great extent. 



During three of my visits to Burrawang I have been able to 

 follow the plough, and one could not in any other away get such 



