46 About Members. [isf Jul 



About Members. 



Dr. (Colonel) C. S. Ryan has temporarily left Melbourne to be 

 present at the coronation of the King. He is the first office- 

 bearer of the newly established Aust. O.U. to visit England, 

 and no doubt when abroad, and matters pertaining to Aus- 

 tralasian ornithology and the Union crop up, he will not hide 

 the light of either under a bushel. 



In the list of original members of the Aust. O.U. published 

 in last issue of TJic Emu the initials of Mr. Webb (North 

 Queensland) were printed " E. W." instead of " E. H." 



Consequent upon the death of his father (Mr. Albert A. C. 

 Le Souef ), Mr. Dudley Le Souef, C.M.Z.S. (the hon. secretary 

 of the Aust. O.U.), has been appointed Director of the 

 Zoological Gardens, Melbourne. While sympathising with our 

 secretary in his bereavement, members of the Union will be 

 gratified that he has been called to fill an important office held 

 by so worthy a father. 



It is somewhat over a year since Mr. A. J. Campbell's work 

 on " Nests and Eggs " was distributed in Australia. Those who 

 assisted in its publication by subscribing will be pleased to 

 learn that the market value of their copies has increased to 70s. 

 Except a very limited portion of the edition in the hands of 

 Mr. Edwards, bookseller, Marylebone, England, and a few 

 over-copies in the possession of the author, there are none 

 available. W'hen these are sold the book will be practically 

 out of print. 



An Exploring Collector. — The following is an extract 

 of a letter received from Mr. Tom Carter : — " The bulk of my 

 skins is made when travelling, often at dinner hour. When one 

 must push on to get water, they get out of shape by being 

 packed green and jolted over this rough country in buckboard. 

 All this coast country is bad to work on account of the short- 

 ness of water. I took a trip to the North-West Cape last 

 month (March), hoping to get round and work part of the 

 Exmouth Gulf. There have been splendid rains here, and I 

 had hoped for a good time, but 60 miles above here there had 

 been no rain at all, and consequently no food for the horses, and 

 no road, but dense low scrub and heavy sand, honeycombed 

 with rat holes. There were stony boulder creeks to cross, and 

 soakages of water in rocks were all filled and fouled by 

 kangaroos, &c., and what water there was was salty and bad. 

 One had to clean out the native wells, then fill bucket with 

 pannikin and carry to horses out of a hole which is often 10 

 feet deep, in the nature of a cave. It is marvellous how the 

 horses do drink brackish water and eat dry feed. The country 

 north of here is very rough, the ranges being 10 to 15 miles 



