THE VICT0K1AN NATURALIST. 



about a mile away. The bottom of the grave was strewn with fresh 

 gum leaves, and the body, wrapped up in blankets, placed in ; 

 over it a sheet of bark was put, and the grave was then filled up 

 with freshly cut logs. A fire was kept burning alongside the 

 grave for some time after the burial. The grave is always dug 

 east and west, and the man's feet turned towards the east, so 

 that, as they say, he can see the rising sun. For some time after- 

 wards the gins used to wail for him in the evenings, beating the 

 ground on which they sat, and their backs, with a flat shield. 



We rode to a creek some miles away to see if we could find 

 the nest of the beautiful parrakeet, Psephotus pidcherrimus. It 

 makes a hole into a White Ant mound, and forms a fair-sized 

 chamber in the centre, where it lays five white eggs. It is the 

 only parrot we have in Australia which does this, and it is curious 

 why it should differ from the rest of its species in so doing. We 

 were fortunate in finding a nest, of which I took a photograph. 

 On our way out we came across a hollow log with a track worn 

 alongside it, showing there were dingo puppies inside. We 

 made a fire at the larger end to prevent them escaping, and, 

 blocking up the smaller end, cut holes with a tomahawk in the log 

 till we came to where the dogs were, and secured two puppies, 

 also their mother, whom we quickly dispatched. During the day 

 we also found the nests and eggs of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo 

 and Blue Mountain Parrot, both close together; then the nest 

 of the Black-backed Magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen, and in an 

 adjoining tree the nest of a Collared Butcher Bird. Next we 

 found two hawks' nests close together, and shortly afterwards the 

 nests of a New South Wales Oriole, Mimeta viridis, and Friar Bird, 

 also in adjoining trees. Birds very frequently build in company. 

 We killed a fair-sized Iguana, or Gould's Monitor, Varanus 

 Gouldii. These reptiles are very destructive to birds nesting, 

 especially those in hollows of trees ; they often feed also on 

 bandicoot, opossum, &c, and during times of drought, when cattle 

 are down and unable to rise, they are attacked by these creatures, 

 which frequently eat holes in them before they are dead. When 

 killing animals such as opossums, rats, &c, they shake them like 

 a terrier does a rat. They can also go a long time without food. 

 One in the Melbourne Zoological Gardens fasted for nine months 

 before it commenced to eat, refusing all food offered to it during 

 that time. 



We saw a few Grey Kangaroos, Macropus giganteus, which let 

 us approach very close on horseback. One morning three female 

 Wallaroos, Macropus robustus, came close to the house and after 

 a time went off again quietly. They had no joeys with them ; the 

 young are often killed by dingoes. There are several kinds of 

 hornets here ; the largest make their nests hanging from the lower 

 side of granite boulders, dead boughs, &c. Another species 



