2-i THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



early. The noise they made was deafening when they all rose 

 screeching into the air. A pair of Caspian Terns, Sterna Caspia, 

 also flew away as we approached, and some White Reef Herons 

 and Pelicans. The bank was pure white sand, and the glare 

 in the hot sun considerable. A few logs of driftwood had been 

 washed up by the sea, and at high tide it cannot be much above 

 the level of the water. We were told that grass used to grow on 

 it, but a heavy storm washed it all away, and a good deal of the 

 island too. We picked up some pretty shells and coral, and saw 

 numerous tracks of turtles on the sand, and after staying about 

 an hour set sail with a freshening breeze for the Bloomfield River, 

 which was reached at dusk. Mr. F. Hislop and myself then 

 walked up to Wyalla, over the wet, slippery roads, as heavy rain 

 had fallen a short time previously. It got very dark long before 

 we got to our destination, and my companion deserved great 

 credit for the way he successfully found his way along the 

 small bush track, when for some distance we had to feel our 

 way, the darkness being so intense. 



A few days after we went down to the sea coast, about six 

 miles away, to the mouth of a small stream. We got into a boat 

 some two miles up the river and pulled down to the bar. The 

 banks were mostly lined with a dense fringe of mangroves, 

 amongst which were noticed White Ibis, Threskiornis strictipennis, 

 Nankeen Night Heron, Nycticorax Caledonicus, and one specimen 

 of the Little Mangrove Bittern, Butoroides Javanica. This 

 stream was tidal for some distance up, and was the haunt of the 

 crocodile, Crocodilus piorosus, and these reptiles have on the 

 bank, close to the water's edge, their favourite camping ground, a 

 clear space where they lie sunning themselves ; but they are very 

 quick in hearing any unusual sound, and at once slide off into 

 the water, consequently they are difficult to get a shot at or even 

 to see, as where they lie has scrub each side of it, and therefore 

 cannot be easily seen until close to. Mr. F. Hislop shot one 

 shortly before my arrival. He landed some distance above a 

 well-known resting ground, and with care managed to get a shot 

 at its occupant with his rifle. On its carcase being measured, 

 it was found to be exactly n ft. long. Round about its lair 

 were the remains of pigs, showing that they were its favourite 

 food, and as these animals were numerous it evidently did not 

 suffer from hunger. I visited a swamp close to the sea shore, 

 and found that the pigs had been systematically through the 

 greater portion of it, rooting it up for the sake of the roots of 

 the rushes with which it was originally covered. In wading 

 about with bare feet in the mud and water, I accidentally trod on 

 a green water snake, but it being quickly released disappeared in 

 the muddy water. A few birds were seen, such as Native Com- 

 panions, Grus Australasianus, Black Duck, Anas superciliosa, 



