268 " Down Mario Way." [J^l^., 



Their incessant screeching could be heard at some cUstance, and 

 they were so tame that we could sit amongst the trees and study 

 their habits at our leisure. The mass of gaudy colouring — each 

 bird a colour scheme in blue, red, yellow, and green — the constant 

 movement and chattering, the spiteful attacks and quarrelsome 

 family life of a bird community, made a never-to-be-forgotten 

 scene. Every few moments a noisy flock of new arrivals would 

 come screeching down and settle in the low fruit-trees till the 

 boughs bent under the weight of their gaudy burden. Clambering 

 about among the foliage, they would peck at the fruit until it 

 dropped to the ground, when they would follow and join their 

 fellows who were already in the long grass feeding upon the 

 fallen fruit. They seemed to prefer the apples partly eaten on 

 previous days. These had fermented upon exposure to the sun 

 and rain, and seemed much to their taste. Three of the birds, 

 overcome by the strength of the naturally distilled cider, were 

 caught by hand by a girl living close by, and placed in a cage, 

 where they seemed perfectly contented and quite tame from the 

 outset. Unfortunately, various accidents with the camera 

 prevented our photographer from obtaining photographs when 

 the revels were at their height. The birds, too, seemed much 

 more suspicious of the camera than of human beings, even when 

 the latter were armed with guns. A party of holiday shooters 

 arrived a few days later, and much slaughter followed, the 

 surviving birds dispersing through the liush to their natural food 

 in the flowering banksias. The photograph reproduced gives 

 a faint idea of the beauties of the scene in the orchard. 



A most interesting trip was made one day to the Cabbage-tree 

 Creek. We drove about lo miles through most interesting 

 country, beset with swampy areas that held Quail and Grass-Birds 

 and was surrounded by timber consisting chiefly of mahogany 

 gum (Eucalyptus hotryoides) and messmate {E. obliqua). The 

 creek is a comparatively small stream, which meanders through 

 a serpentine course amongst wattles (Acacia dcalhata), lilly-pill}^, 

 hazel, musk, dog-wood, and tree-ferns, in places festooned with the 

 climbing vine Eustrephus hrownii. From this jungle, somewhat 

 similar in character to that on the river banks already referred 

 to, rise fine eucalyptus trees with buttressed stems and numerous 

 tall, graceful cabbage palms (Livistonia australis) ; the latter 

 are the only trees of their species found in Victoria, and extend 

 along the creek for about a mile. How did they get here ? Are 

 they the last relics of a vegetation surviving from a warmer 

 epoch ? Did aboriginals bring the seeds from farther north in 

 New South Wales, or were they perhaps conveyed by birds ? 

 Probably we shall never know. At all events, it is satisfactory 

 to learn that the Government has declared the locality a reserve, 

 and that young plants are still springing up along the creek. 

 Some of the mature trees rear their heads to a height of 60 or 

 80 feet, and are probably at least 200 years old. One has been 

 almost burnt through by fire, but its lofty crown is still as green 



