170 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



amiulati) and Blackman's Snake (Cacophis blackmanii) are 

 amongst the exhibits this evening, which also include the Large- 

 frilled Lizard ( Chlamydosaurus kingii), with a young one of the 

 same species ; Diporaphera australis, a small long-tailed lizard ; 

 and a Gecko (CEdura robusta), very common about the houses in 

 North Queensland, where it has a habit of lying in wait on the 

 wall-plate of these wooden structures for prey in the shape of 

 flies, &c. One of these Geckos, which became almost a pet, 

 cast its skin — a thin film one would almost fear to breathe upon, 

 for fear of blowing it away — three times in very little over as 

 many months. 



Summer begins, so far as insect life is concerned, during 

 September; but from November till March is the real season for 

 the finer and more showy sorts of butterflies, moths, beetles, &c. 

 During the rainy season, usually January, February, and March, 

 " the great exotic butterflies flit on lazy wing from flower to 

 flower, and deposit their eggs beneath protecting leaves." 

 Combined heat and moisture seem necessary for their existence. 

 They are not " so true to days, s:> true to hours," as responsive 

 to the rain drops. Delay of the wet season means delay in the 

 appearance of these beautiful creatures. Writing in the middle 

 of December, 1889, Mr. C. says : — " Rain fell last night, and 

 how the insects enjoy it. They come out in thousands to greet 

 it. The other day the air was thick with flying ants during a 

 shower — all flying in the same direction as the rain went, as if to 

 be with it as long as possible. There were none to be seen 

 before. They vanished completely when the rain ceased. Did 

 they crawl back to their holes, or follow the shower as it climbed 

 the southern hills and visited the parched land beyond?" Six 

 days later : — " To-day the air is full of butterflies, but nearly all 

 of one variety, black and white, with a streak or two of yellow 

 on the under surface. They all fly in the same general direction, 

 from south-east to north-west; whilst another variety, but in 

 smaller numbers, fly in the opposite direction. I have frequently 

 noticed that on plains or open forest country, away from creeks, 

 the flight of butterflies all tends in one direction, not always the 

 way the wind is blowing — more often at right angles to it. Why 

 is this ? Along the creek, the great black and white Papilios, 

 with spots of red on the hind margin of the wings, fly in an 

 erratic manner beneath the shadow of the trees, sometimes 

 keeping low beneath the bank, at others mounting amid the 

 dense branches of the figs and Leichhardts. The great 

 Bull's-eye also loves the shadows. One never finds him in the 

 glaring sunlight ; but where the densest vegetation grows, and 

 semi-darkness reigns, the Bull's-eye loves to be. Overhanging a 

 pool, some 300 yards from my house, some hornets have a nest 

 — a pendent dome of mud, containing many cells and one large 



