52 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Creek with the Yarra, where there is a fine clump of box trees, 

 covered with mistletoe. After watching the birds for some time 

 through the telescope, I found that they first plucked a berry, 

 then repaired to a larger bough, whence after a few moments the 

 berry was dropped. I had always thought that the berry was 

 eaten whole, but on picking one up the mystery was solved, for 

 it was empty ; the seed, with its glutinous covering, had been 

 abstracted through an opening in the top, formed by biting it 

 nearly through, leaving a lid. Nor is this all, for in the act of 

 picking the fruit, a small hole is left where the stalk joined it, and 

 this must greatly facilitate the sucking or squeezing out of the 

 contents. During the whole process the bird uses only its beak. 

 The ground underneath each of the trees was strewn with several 

 hundreds of these discarded berries, each with its lid at one end 

 and the small hole at the other. 



The bird is so small that when the seed is passed it sticks to the 

 bough on which it sits, and is glued there by its viscid covering. 

 On climbing the trees I was surprised to find what a large 

 number of seeds were sticking to the branches. 



Consul Layard, writing to Nature from Noumea (see Victorian 

 Naturalist, vol. v., p. 72), speaks of the Indian species of the genus 

 Dicoeum as the agent of dispersion of the banian, and says that 

 the seeds require to pass through the bodies of birds to enable 

 them to germinate. To determine whether this holds with our 

 mistletoes I planted and marked a number of seeds on several 

 trees. Two months afterwards, in July last, they began to sprout, 

 and send their roots into the wood of their hosts, and continued 

 to grow equally as well as those passed by the birds. School- 

 boys are fond of the berries for the sake of the glutinous covering 

 of the seeds, which is very sweet, and suck them in exactly the 

 same way as the birds. 



The Swallow Dicoeum is recorded from all parts of Australia, 

 and its migrations are probably regulated by its food supply. 

 I am convinced that in Victoria, where it only stays in any 

 number for three or four months, it is the exclusive agent in the 

 dispersal of mistletoe, and should be glad to hear from observers 

 in other colonies the time of its appearance, and the extent to 

 which it is noticed feeding on the berries. 



Surrey Hills Boys' Field Club. — This society has now 

 completed the third year of its existence. The hon. secretary's 

 report states that during the year just closed the members have 

 shown considerable interest in its proceedings, both in the fort- 

 nightly outings and the monthly evening meetings. These 

 latter have on several occasions been addressed by members of 

 the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, to whom the committee 

 express their gratitude for the aid so freely given. 



