30 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



any ordinary pin's head. They crawl up on the stems of the long 

 grass and seem to remain there, catching on anything that may 

 go past. That is one reason why so much of the country has 

 been burnt in this district, so as to kill the innumerable number 

 of ticks on the grass. They were apparently very patchy, as in 

 some places the grass had none on, whereas in other places it was 

 just the reverse. It was a sad sight seeing so many fine beasts 

 lying dead, and two days a week were occupied by those in charge 

 pulling dead beasts away from the waterholes. Those within a 

 certain distance of the house were burnt ; the others not. Dingos 

 and wild pigs seemed often to feed on the carcases. It is difficult 

 to realize what damage the ticks have caused in these districts, 

 thousands of dairy and other cattle having died from it, and 

 those dairy cattle that have survived are often no good for 

 milking. On several occasions I saw milking cows brought into 

 the yard, and used to watch the fowls picking the larger ticks 

 off them, jumping up to get those otherwise out of reach, the 

 cattle offering no objection. 



On passing by a swamp a pair of Masked Plovers, Lobivanellus 

 pei'sonatus, were flying about much alarmed, and on looking 

 about three of their little young ones were found, newly hatched. 

 At the edge of one long swamp, about a mile in length, thousands 

 of Whistling Ducks, Dendrocygna vagans, were seen, as well as 

 many Magpie Geese, Anseranas melanoleuca, Plotus Birds, Plotus 

 JVovce-Hollandue, Native Companions, White-fronted Herons, 

 Pacific Herons, White, Straw-necked, and Glossy Ibis, Cormorants, 

 White Egrets, &c. It was a wonderful sight to see so much 

 bird life on the various waterholes. Being the dry season the water 

 was not deep, and many of the swamps were much curtailed in 

 size or dried up altogether, and we walked for about two miles 

 over a hard, dried-up swamp, which was very rough and tiring to 

 walk over. The rushes and other vegetation were, of course, all 

 dead. We reached our destination towards evening after a tiring 

 walk. Next day was spent in riding over the run. Near the 

 homestead Square-tailed Kites, Lophoictinia isnra, were 

 numerous. They were very sluggish in their movements. 

 Whistling Eagles, Haliastur sphenurus, too, were seen, and one 

 of their nests found. The little Peaceful Doves were everywhere 

 plentiful, feeding on the ground. We were shown the bower of 

 the Larger Bower Bird, Chlamydodera orientalis. It was a large 

 structure, being 3 ft. through the passage. It was built under 

 a thick, overhanging bush. A good-sized heap of small bones 

 of various animals were placed at each end of it. The birds 

 themselves were shy and only one seen. Two snakes, Dipsas 

 Jusca, were passed, resting on the stems of small trees, about 

 5 ft. from the ground. They remained perfectly still when 

 approached, and were difficult to catch sight of. I saw an 



