THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



By Mr. C. French, jun. — Remarkable double nest of the 

 Black Fantail, collected by Master W. Shepherd at Western 

 Port, Victoria ; egg of New South Wales Lyre Bird, Menura 

 superba ; and orchid, Prasophyllum despectans, collected at 

 Western Port, being a new locality for this comparatively rare 

 Victorian orchid. By Mr. J. Shephard. — Lacinularia elongata, 

 new species of rotifer, in illustration of paper. By Mr. G. E. 

 Shepherd. — Yellow-legged Spoonbill, Plat aha Jiavipes. 

 After the usual conversazione the meeting terminated. 



EXCURSION TO WILLSMERE. 



Favoured by a fine though warm afternoon, on Saturday, 7th 

 March, a party of about ten members made their way to Willsmere 

 Park, near Kew,and spent two or three hours pleasantly in searching 

 the ponds at that place. Owing possibly to recent rains, animal 

 life seemed much less abundant than usually is the case, but the 

 customary forms of Polyzoa, sponges, Hydra, and Entomostraca 

 were taken. As at this season last year, the sponges were found 

 to contain gemmules. For the first time in our experience 

 Volvox was plentiful in the locality. As regards rotifers, the 

 beautiful clusters of Lacinularia pedunculate, and L. natans were 

 numerous : they appear to have found their way to the first and 

 largest of the ponds only recently, as we noticed them there for 

 the first time a few months back. All the usual tube-building 

 genera were represented, and amongst these a gigantic specimen 

 of Floscularia coronetta deserved special notice. Free-swimming 

 forms were scarce, though the pretty little Green Bag Rotifer, 

 Sacculus viridis, and a few more common species were taken. 

 Special mention may perhaps be made of a rotifer which lives 

 parasitic in the Volvox, sailing about in the water with no effort 

 of its own, while it calmly devours its host. Of this one 

 specimen was taken here, the only other place where we have 

 caught it being a pond at Box Hill. Infusoria were poorly 

 represented, the only ones almost being the chlorophyll-bearing 

 Paramecium bursaria, and the Stentors. Many of the latter 

 were conspicuous by their colouration, which was pale pink — a 

 peculiarity we do not remember having seen mentioned in any 

 text-book. 



Microscopic plant life was present in abundance. In addition 

 to the common filamentous algge, Spirogyra and Tyndaridea, 

 Oscillatoriae, Nostoc, Diatoms, and an unusual variety of Desmids 

 occurred. These beautiful little green plants, which would well 

 repay much more study than they seem to receive here, are very 

 numerous just now at Willsmere. Amongst the filamentous forms 

 found were Hyalotheca dissiliens, with its broad gelatinous sheath ; 

 the curiously twisted Desmidium Swartzii ; and the chain-like 



