THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 131 



by a stranger who arrived on the scene, an aboriginal calmly 

 surveying us from his steed. We crossed about seven miles of 

 somewhat uninteresting country, relieved by the sight of the 

 best crop of wheat we had seen ; and several Quandong Trees, 

 Santalum acuminatum, were laden with their pretty red fruit, 

 some of which we gathered to bring home as a memento of our 

 visit. The leaves of the Santalum were covered with a scale 

 insect which Mr. Maskell has named as Aspidiotus cladii. It 

 was now past noon and we had reached a nice creek, which, by 

 the way, rejoiced in the suggestive name of Bullock Hide, an 

 article without which all hands voted our horse would have struck 

 long ago. After lunch we explored the timber on the banks of 

 the creek, and saw a pair of Spotted Bower Birds, but did not 

 succeed in finding the nest, though, needless to say, a strong 

 effort was made. Several of their old bovvers were noticed, one 

 being placed under a large bush of the Prickly Box, Bursaria 

 spinosa. A Brown Tree-Creeper was flushed from a hollow tree, 

 and three eggs secured, being all the eggs taken, though a White 

 Cockatoo was nesting in a large Red Gum, which, however, being 

 a most difficult one to climb, was not attempted. After collecting 

 the following plants — Atriplex semibaccatum, Bassia lanicvspis, 

 Stvainsona lesser tifolia, S emodin Morgania, Dampiera lanceolata 

 — a return was now attempted, but our horse again refused, and 

 once more the green hide saved us from having to camp out. 

 On the return Bee-eaters were again noted, but none of their 

 holes contained eggs. The Murray was reached and safely 

 crossed just before dark. 



qth November. — Drove to Lake Charm, getting a fresh pair 

 of horses from Mr. Embelton, who very kindly drove us to the 

 Red Gum Marsh, picking up a guide by the way, and seeing 

 several Red-necked Avocets feeding in Racecourse Lake, shortly 

 after passing which we noticed the beautiful little Fairy Martin 

 nesting under a bridge, and several fresh eggs were secured. 

 The majority of the birds, however, had young. Red Gum Marsh 

 proved a failure as regards aquatic birds' eggs. Whilst Messrs. 

 Shepherd and Brittlebank were exploring the swamp for eggs, I 

 decided (with the help of Mr. Embelton) to look for beetles 

 under the logs at the edge of the swamp, and obtained a good 

 many species, principally belonging to the order Carabidre. One 

 especially, called the Bombardier, Pheropsoplms verticalis, struck 

 me as being curious. On capturing this beetle it discharges a 

 report resembling a person striking wax matches, and at the 

 same time a sort of smoke is observable, also a fluid is emitted, 

 which is said to cause a severe irritation should it get on 

 the hands or face. An interesting description of the British 

 Bombardier Beetle, Brachinus crepitans, is given by the Rev. 

 J. G. Wood, M.A., in his interesting book " Common British 



