Vol. XIX 

 1920 



] Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union. 203 



of canxinj; these arrangements into effect, Iiowex-er, was dissipated 

 by the prolonged maritime strike, and Queensland members had 

 then to cast about for a new rendezvous. It was not a par- 

 ticularly difficult problem in this State of much beauty. \n 

 expedition to Stradbroke Island, Moreton Bay, was decided upon 

 as offering a panacea to potential campers for the loss of the 

 pleasures of tropic Whitsunday, and a tentative agreement was 

 reached for the establishment (jf a second camp on the mystical 

 Bunya Mountains, south-western Queensland. 



" Mystical " is written because the Bunya Range has ever been 

 to most Queenslanders little more than a name — a name full of 

 romantic reminiscence of the days when the black man was a 

 power in the land and held high revel at the periodical Feast of 

 the Bunyas. It was not this factor, however, that constituted 

 the ornithological attraction of the range so much as the 

 possibility that, by reason of its western dip, this portion of the 

 Great Divide would provide an interesting merging-place for 

 eastern and western forms. Moreover, it was known that these 

 south-western highlands had not been at all thoroughly examined 

 from any scientific standpoint. Mr. Hermann Lau, a correspondent 

 of Mr. A. J. Campbell, made notes there so far back as 1856,* 

 but since that time no record was obtainable of any ornithologist 

 having visited the locality. When there is added to these con- 

 siderations the fact that the Bunya Range was reputed to be of 

 considerable beauty, and to carry abundance of pine, it will be 

 agreed that the " possibilities " certainly were rosy. 



Obviously, in the case of a locality so little visited, the out- 

 standing difficulty was the question of access. It was here that 

 the fraternal citizens of the town of Dalby, the nearest point of 

 importance to the range, came to the rescue. The local Chamber 

 of Commerce responded readily to a request for advice and 

 co-operation, and their assistance subsequently was a very 

 appreciable factor in the success of the excursion. Practical 

 co-operation was given also at the Brisbane end, particularly by 

 the then Premier (Hon. T. J. Ryan), who generously granted the 

 visitors free railway passes on the 150 miles trip from the capital 

 to Dalby. 



Intending campers who left Brisbane and other centres for 

 the Bunya Range on 30th September constituted the largest party 

 of the kind yet gathered under the banner of the R.A.O.U. The 

 representation from the various States was as follows : — New 

 South Wales. — Mr. A. S. Le Souef (State secretary), Dr. J. Burton 

 Cleland, Dr. E. A. D'Ombrain, Messrs. Neville W. Cayley, C. Coles, 

 R. E. Morse, R. Hayes, H. J. Carter, and Mrs. Coles; Victoria^ 

 Dr. J. A. Leach (vice-president). Colonel (Dr.) Geo. Home, Messrs. 

 H. J. Watson and W\ O'Meara, Mrs. J. W. Israel, and Mrs. Stubbs ; 

 South Australia — Caj)tain S. A. White (State secretary) and Mrs. 

 White, Mr. H. W. Andrews and Mrs. Andrews, Misses Vo'hr, A. Vohr, 



* " Nests and Eggs," p. 1S8, 



