^'o'- ^'^1 Royal Aus/raldS'ia)! Or)ii//io/o^isis' Union. 229 



host to the ground and a, leafy stem upwards. Gradually the 

 roots gain a strong foothold in tlie ground and form an intricate 

 interlacing network round the trunk, whilst the branches above 

 soar over their host and throw out a dense canopy of leaves. 

 Meanwhile, the twining roots, naturally grafted into each other, 

 starve, by constriction, their unfortunate victim, thus cutting 

 off the ascent of the sap. Towards the base the roots form 

 buttresses for additional support. The host now gradually decays, 

 the fig occupying eventually with its own tissues, more or less, 

 the whole of the empty space. Underneath its umbrageous 

 foliage forest seedlings find the conditions of shade and moisture 

 necessary for their development. Though this series of changes 

 occurs probably most frequently in the forest itself, several young 

 fig-trees were seen growing in the eucalypts in the grass-land, but 

 only 20 or 30 yards from the edge of the forest. Already their roots 

 had reached the ground, and a small canopy was developing. 

 Eventually a tall and shady fig-tree would replace the small 

 eucalypts. Under its shade shrubs and forest trees would grow ; 

 and thus we would have extension of the forest by saltation or 

 jumping — a more rapid process than the usual one by reption 

 or creeping, and such a more rapid extension, if it actually 

 occurs, must be dependent on birds, and birds alone. 



The Intestines of Birds. — ^The intestines of birds vary consider- 

 ably as regards their total length and calibre and the size of the 

 caeca. Changes of a marked nature must take ages of evolution 

 to accomplish. A comparative study of the intestines might 

 therefore be expected to throw some light on family, if not on 

 generic, relationships. Some of our peculiar Australian genera 

 may well repay examination from this point of view\ During 

 the visit to the Bunya Mountains, dissection of Regent-Birds, 

 Satin Bower-Birds, and Cat-Birds showed that these members 

 of the Ptilonorhynchidce possessed intestines which were rather 

 short and of very large calibre. Those of two Regent-Birds were 

 II inches and 12 inches long respectively ; of a Cat-Bird, 12 inches 

 long, with caeca \ inch in length about i inch from the vent ; and 

 of a Satin Bower-Bird, 14 inches long, with c?eca f inch in length 

 about I inch from the vent. The calibre was very large, and 

 the terminal part often contained almost complete fig fruits. In 

 descending from the stomach to the vent the intestine merely 

 made two or three simple loops, and seemed only to fill partly the 

 abdominal cavity. It would be interesting to compare the 

 intestines of the Bower-Birds with those of the Paradiseidce and 

 CorvidcB. 



Parasites. 



All the birds obtained were searched for the presence of 

 helminth parasites. From a number, blood slides were examined 

 for haematozoa, and others were searched for external parasites 

 (Mallophaga and ticks). The results obtained were the following : — 



No entozoa detected : — Stradbroke Island. — Geopelia hittneralis, 



