THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 127 



NOTES ON THE BIRD FAUNA OF THE BOX HILL 



DISTRICT. 



By Robert Hall. 



fRead before Field Naturalists^ Club of Victoria, 8th July, 1895.^ 



The district to which these notes refer lies to the east of 

 Melbourne, and as its furthest point is within twenty miles of the 

 city, it may almost be termed suburban. Its shape is somewhat 

 triangular, the base extending from Doncaster on the north to 

 Oakleigh on the south, a distance of about six miles, whilst its 

 sides reach almost to the Dandenong Ranges at Bayswater, a 

 distance of about ten miles. 



On the \vhole the district is undulating, and is now rather 

 thinly timbered, most of the larger trees having been cut down to 

 supply firewood for the metropolis. Owing to the absence of 

 much permanent water, certain classes of birds, such as the 

 swimmers and waders, are almost absent. The creeks are small, 

 and generally dry during February and March, with the exception 

 of the Koonung and Dandenong Creeks, which form the northern 

 and southern boundaries respectively. These are well lined with 

 vegetation of various kinds, which forms the home of many of 

 the species recorded. 



My notes refer principally to observations made during the 

 years 1893 and 1894, under ordinary circumstances as a col- 

 lector. During the latter year, it will be remembered, neither 

 extreme heat nor cold was experienced — in fact, the winter was so 

 pleasant that the Welcome Swallow (Ilirimdo neoxena) did not 

 migrate as usual. Spring came in with the ist of August, and by 

 tlie middle of the month the singing of birds could be heard in 

 all directions. 



The list of Victorian birds amounts to nearly 400 species. Of 

 these I have noted 94 within the district, 74 of which have been 

 found to breed here, the remaining 20 only occasionally making 

 their appearance. 



The passerine birds comprise seven-tenths of the total, thus 

 showing the wooded nature of the country, the most numerous 

 families being the ISIeliphagidae, the Campephaginae, and the 

 Luscinidai. 



With a few exceptions the whole of the list was observed 

 within twelve miles of Melbourne, more particularly in that strip 

 of timber along the Koonung Creek, near Blackburn, a fairly 

 reliable resort for a variety of birds breeding in the early spring. 

 We may therefore safely say the list is a suburban one, merely 

 extending to Bayswater, where the birds live more undisturbed, 

 and are accordingly found more regularly and in greater numbers. 

 On the whole, I venture to think Box Hill the nearest district to 



