THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 31 



Iguana up a smooth-barked eucalyptus tree, and it was just 

 about to look into a hole in the trunk of the tree when a 

 Laughing Jackass, Dacelo gigas, darted out of the hole with a loud 

 cry and knocked the big lizard off its precarious perch on to the 

 ground. Five Grey Kangaroos, Macropus giganteus, were seen, 

 and two Pretty Face or Whip-tailed Kangaroos, Macropus Parryi. 

 The latter darted away at great pace through the long grass. In 

 an old Pied Grallina's nest a White-vented Wood Swallow had 

 built its own nest and was rearing its young brood. Magpies, 

 6 t/mnorhina libicen, were very scarce. Two nests of the Pied 

 Butcher Bird, Cracticus picatus, were found, one with eggs and 

 the other with young. There seems to be very little difference 

 between the markings of these birds and the black-throated 

 variety, but their note is very dissimilar, that of the former being 

 a single clear whistle. In the creeks fish were plentiful. I was 

 informed that those caught during the dry season were infested 

 with intestinal worms, while in the wet season they were free from 

 them. 



We left next day on our return to Wyalla, and camped during 

 the middle of the day beside a large lagoon or lake. Its average 

 depth during the dry season was 5 ft. We waded through it 

 looking for nests of the Comb-crested Parra, Parra gallinacea, 

 but none were found. As the water was full of weeds, water 

 lilies, and rushes, we had difficulty in getting along, and came out 

 scratched all over with the prickly stems of some of the water 

 lilies. The rushes were in places very thick and strong, and at one 

 end of the swamp Lotus Lilies grew luxuriantly with their beautiful 

 scarlet flowers. The water was too deep, fortunately, for the pigs 

 to root it out, which otherwise they would have done. The 

 surface of the more open water was covered more or less with 

 either White or Blue Water Lilies, and the effect was very pretty. 

 Birds were very numerous, including Pigmy Geese, Pelicans, the 

 three kinds of Ibis, White Egrets, Magpie Geese, Ducks, Plotus 

 Birds, &c, &c, and on the banks Masked Plovers and Allied 

 Dottrels were seen. A Papuan Podargus was found sitting on its 

 nest, which contained one egg, and on dissection the bird proved 

 to be the male. The female was roosting in a neighbouring tree, 

 and was not disturbed by the firing of the gun. We found three 

 nests of the Podargus altogether, built on the horizontal branches 

 of the eucalyptus trees in the open forest, and on each it was the 

 male bird that was sitting. Two of the nests had eggs, and one 

 young. In a steep bank several bark nests at the end of the 

 burrows of the Black-headed Pardalote were found, but not quite 

 ready for eggs. The hole was 12 in. long, with a cavity 

 at the end. The Exile Grass Warbler had its beautifully-con- 

 structed nest built in a small shrub about 6 in. from the 

 ground. The nest is built of fluff which occurs in the flat weed 



