THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 15 



coiled herself round them so as to completely cover them ; they 

 were about the size of ducks' eggs, with a white leathery covering, 

 and all of them connected one with the other. She and her eggs 

 were brought on to Melbourne. One of the other two snakes was 

 found by a black boy and killed, but although the blacks are very 

 fond of its flesh, they would not eat this one, as the boy who 

 found it had not reached manhood, nor been admitted into the 

 full rights of the tribe. The third snake was found in the scrub 

 and took refuge under the dead leaf of a Fan Palm, but as we were 

 a long way from the house and had nothing to put it in, we left it 

 alone. They are said to come about more after heavy showers of 

 rain and during dry weather to lay up in hollow logs, &c. On 

 one occasion only I saw a Black Snake, Pseudechys porphyriacus, 

 in the scrub. It is much feared by the blacks, being very venomous. 

 It was close to us when first noticed, but did not move until dis- 

 turbed with a stick, when it quickly glided away. I saw several 

 snakes; Tropidonotus picturatus, in the waters when going up the 

 creeks through the scrub ; they are from two to three feet long. 

 The Brown Tree Snakes, Dipsas fusca, were also often disturbed 

 near water, and it was wonderful how they climbed the trees with 

 apparently little support. On one occasion I had shot a Green 

 Pigeon, Chalcophaps chrysochlora, which fell by a Lawyer Palm, 

 and on picking up the bird I noticed the palm leaf I was almost 

 touching was moving, and, looking closely at it, saw a brown 

 snake, about five feet long, rapidly making its way along it to an 

 adjacent tree, up which it soon climbed, taking refuge in the thick 

 foliage near the top. They are non-venomous, and evidently live 

 principally on small birds. They may often be mistaken for a 

 stick, as they are of a dull brown colour, and appear to remain 

 motionless when watching for their prey. On one occasion when 

 on the beach at Cedar Bay, opposite the camp of Messrs. Meek 

 and Barnard, I found a live specimen of the Eel-like Snake, 

 Dv.pysurvs anguilliformis, which had been washed up on the 

 sand. It was about three feet long, and being out of its natural 

 element found a difficulty in travelling over the ground, but when 

 put back in the sea it swam away with its head out of the water. 

 This district is very rich in bird life, and all day long, and at night 

 also, their varied notes may be heard, both in the forest country 

 and especially in the scrubs. The Scrub Turkey, Talegallus 

 Lathami, is plentiful on the ranges, but seldom comes to the low- 

 lying country. Its mounds were frequently found ; they are 

 composed almost entirely of leaves, which they scratch off the 

 higher ground on the upper side of the nest, often going as far as 

 50 feet away. They lay large white eggs, with very granulated 

 thin shells, apparently to the number of 16. These are generally 

 laid to the depth of 18 inches, but they are said to lay their eggs 

 deeper in wet weather than in dry. The size of the mounds 



