32 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



when the seeds are ripe, and then the large green leaves of the 

 plant on which the nest is built are sewn together round the nest, 

 the thread being made of cobweb. A Crested Hawk, Baza 

 subcristata, was seen, and I have been informed that these birds 

 kill small snakes. A friend also informed me that he had 

 watched Kestrel Hawks feeding their young on small snakes. 

 Dingo tracks were seen on the dusty path, and once two pigs and 

 seven young ones ran away from a dead beast, on which they had 

 been feeding, at our approach, and a Whistling Eagle flew heavily 

 away also. It had evidently been having a meal too. 



In a small tree in the open country, and exposed to the hot sun, 

 we were surprised to see two opossums, Phalangista vuljnna. 

 It was in the middle of the day, and no large trees were near 

 them, only saplings. Our native shot one for his supper, but the 

 other was not disturbed. More than half the trees we passed 

 had a stream of little black ants going up and down them. 

 These insects were exceedingly numerous. Many nests of the 

 Temporal Pomatorhinus were seen, and in one the nest of the 

 White-quilled Honey-eater, and also those of Leach's Kingfishers 

 in the hollow branches. The curious loud noise these birds 

 make is very similar to that of the Channel Bill Cuckoo. King 

 Parrots seem to remain mostly in the scrub during the day, and 

 in the open country in the early morning and evening. We shot 

 one Fan-tailed Cuckoo and one Brush Cuckoo, Cacomantis in- 

 speratus, and saw one Channel Bill, Scythrops Novce-Hol- 

 landice. One egg of the Freshwater Tortoise was picked up 

 lying on the ground, and several of their skeletons at the edge 

 of the swamp. 



On the second day, when passing through some thin scrub 

 across a creek, some pigs were seen, and one of my companions 

 determined to try and shoot one of the young ones, which, after 

 a little stalking, he managed to, but it was too weighty to bring 

 along, so we informed two miners living near the road of our 

 good fortune, and told them they could have it. They with 

 delight at once went to fetch the dead pig in. Next day, when 

 back at Wyalla, a farmer came along, and we were telling him of 

 our prowess in shooting this, as we thought, wild pig. He then 

 questioned us as to the size and number of them, and on our 

 answering he said, " Bother you, you have shot one of my tame 

 pigs, which I had let out the day before for a run." We said 

 nothing more about the pig after that. After one day's rest I 

 started off, accompanied by Mr. F. Hislop and two natives, to 

 Mt. Finlayson, a mountain not far from Wyalla, about 4,000 ft. 

 high. We left in the afternoon, arriving at our camping ground 

 at dusk. Remembering, from former experience, how numerous 

 the so-called soldier ants were, I slept in my hammock. 



Early next morning a start up the scrub-covered mountain was 



