THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 155 



from insects, &c, &c. Our camp here was 500 feet above sea 

 level. Fan Palms grew luxuriantly, and were very beautiful. 

 A male Victoria Rifle Bird frequently called out in our 

 immediate vicinity, and was far from shy. Allied and other 

 Fruit Pigeons were occasionally heard, and a Sulphur-crested 

 Cockatoo was shot while feeding in a high tree over our camp. 

 The loud note of Quoy's Butcher Bird, Cracticus Quoyii, was 

 often heard, but the bird seldom seen. Tracks of domesticated 

 pigs gone wild were noticed on several occasions. It gets 

 darker in the scrub under the thick canopy of leaves much 

 sooner than in the open country, and as the shades of evening 

 drew on the notes of the day birds gradually ceased and other 

 calls took their place — occasionally a kind of hooting, probably 

 of one of the larger owls, then the note of the Boobook Owl, 

 Ninox boobook, the shrill loud cry of the Megapode, Megapodius 

 tumulus, which roosts near the top of some high scrub tree and 

 frequently calls out. The Cicadas also commenced their shrill 

 note, having been quite quiet during the day ; crickets and frogs 

 added their quota to the noise. Large brown moths flit 

 by, and humming moths fly rapidly past. When the twilight has 

 passed away the darkness grows intense, and then almost all 

 sounds cease, except perhaps the squealing of Flying Foxes, 

 Pteropus conspicillutus, as they quarrel over some fruit they 

 may be feeding on. Fire-flies also flit about, showing off their 

 bright light. Later on, when the moon rose, a few sounds were 

 again heard. 



The next day being Sunday we remained in camp, and it was 

 exceedingly interesting, sitting quietly alone in the scrub, away 

 from the sounds of the camp, and listening to the various notes 

 of the birds, many of them being very melodious, and also 

 watching their habits as they came within view. We often dis- 

 covered where the Fruit Pigeons were feeding by hearing the fruit- 

 stones dropping on the leaves below, especially if they fell on 

 those of the Fan Palm; and when a shower passed over the noise 

 of the falling rain on these leaves could be heard a considerable 

 distance. Our camp was situated on the banks of a small creek, 

 stones being plentiful in its bed — in fact, you could not find one 

 that was not stony. A good many scorpions were found under 

 logs, and small black ants were exceedingly numerous, but we 

 were thankful there were no green ones or mosquitos. During 

 the day the natives shot a Tree Kangaroo for food, and caught 

 a young one, but we could not take it with us ; the former was 

 soon cooked and eaten. In the rotten logs an earthworm was 

 plentiful, which, on being* touched, commenced a series of violent 

 wriggles, and if held, generally ended by its coming in half. 

 Planarian worms were occasionally seen, and a few land shells, 

 but the latter were generally in places of security, either under 



