84 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Newer Basalt have not been observed cutting through the 

 Miocenes. 



The nature of the deposit, together with the vast number 

 of plant remains found in the various strata, and the absence 

 within the area under notice of a marine fauna, stamps the 

 so-called Miocenes of Bacchus Marsh as a freshwater deposit. 

 Probably the material has been brought together by rivers 

 entering a low-lying area occupied by lakes and swampy land. 

 Since the early reference by the officers of the geological survey 

 of Victoria to these beds, several writers have written papers and 

 reports on the so-called Miocene deposits of Bacchus Marsh ; of 

 these, however, I have only had the pleasure of reading Mr. 

 W. H. Ferguson's " Notes on the Occurrence of Limestone at 

 Merrimu." In conclusion, I would draw attention to the finding 

 of chipped flint (?) and quartzite weapons and implements in the 

 Post Pliocene deposits of Bacchus Marsh. 



NOTES ON A SERICORNIS FROM KENT GROUP. 



By Lieut.-Colonel Legge, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U., &c. 

 {Read he/ore the Field Naturalists' Glul of Victoria, l±th September, 1896.) 

 Several specimens of a Sericornis from Kent Group have been 

 submitted to me by Mr. A. J. Campbell. Three are marked as 

 males, the others being unsexed, while one is supposed to be an 

 immature example. I have compared them with specimens of 

 the Victorian Sericornis frontalis, which, however, are unsexed 

 on the labels, though one is presumably a male. The examples 

 from the two localities are very similar. The Kent Group 

 specimens are one-eighth of an inch larger in the wing. The 

 adult birds are darker on the head and have more dark 

 colouring about the face and loral region than S. frontalis. 

 The most marked difference, however, is in the throat of the 

 island birds : both the adults are darker ; in one the dark coloura- 

 tion takes the form of a mark instead of stripes as in the bird 

 from the mainland ; in the other the marking is striated in char- 

 acter, yet more confluent than on the mainland species. The 

 white tippings of the primary coverts are much the same in 

 both varieties, but the dark edging is more intense in the Victorian 

 bird. The colouration of the under surface is the same in both. 

 Although the series under consideration is not sufficiently large 

 to enable me to pronounce a decided opinion on the specific 

 distinctions or otherwise of these examples, I am of opinion that 

 the island bird may be considered a sub-species of S. frontalis, 

 and would propose the title of Sericornis gularis for it. It is, 

 however, probable that a large series from Kent Island might 

 upset this decision. The bird was discovered by the expedition 

 from the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria which visited these 

 islands in November, 1890. 



