Vol. XXVIII 



191. 



] NicHOLLs, A Trip to the Bass Valley. 151 



two into the scrub. Passing several neglected orchards, we 

 saw vast quantities of apples on the ground. These provided 

 a feast for numerous parrots, starlings, and wattle-birds. An 

 interesting feature of this walk was the finding of an " ivy " 

 bush in flower, swarming in parts with small flying insects 

 (midges). So thick were these that at a short distance parts 

 of the green ivy appeared blue-black in colour. A leaf two or 

 three square inches in area accommodated hundreds of the 

 insects. When disturbed by throwing a stick into the bush 

 they fell off in a cloud as thick as smoke. Again birds were 

 few in number, and a solitary Yellow Robin was added to the 

 list. 



In the afternoon we followed the railway line for some two 

 miles back to town. Another native hop, Daviesia latijolia, 

 grows in profusion along the track, and, though not in flower, 

 emitted a sweet perfume during a slight shower of rain. 

 Stepping off the line into a foot-track, we climbed Gardiner's 

 Hill, our destination, It was whilst walking up the hill that 

 we found how numerous and ferocious the mosquitoes were 

 this season. The late rains had caused a plague of these pests 

 all over the State, but at no place were they worse than here. 

 They accompanied us in thousands, and the torture they in- 

 flicted will be remembered for a long time. The hillside we 

 climbed was very damp, and in a little dell at the foot a species 

 of hakea and the coral fern grow profusely. The soil is light 

 and sandy, like that of a typical sand-dune, and at the summit 

 pink, red, and white heath flourished. From here a splendid 

 view was obtained of Phillip and French Islands and the 

 Mornington Peninsula, with the waters of Western Port gleaming 

 in between. On the downward slope of the hill we found the 

 soil red, rich, and volcanic, and the owner of the land showed 

 us a wonderful bed of gladioli of all shapes and of the most 

 vivid colouring. The latter he attributed partly to the sea 

 breeze, which blows freely across the hill-tops, and partly to 

 the red soil. He asked for an explanation of this outcrop of 

 volcanic soil amidst the sand, but we could not explain it. 

 The presence in the house of two paintings by Neville Cayley, 

 one of a Blue Wren and the other of a Striated Pardalote, P. 

 ornatus, elicited the fact that they had been purchased at a 

 recent local sale for 5s. 6d. the two ! We congratulated the 

 owner upon the possession of the paintings, whose value must 

 be at least twenty guineas. He was surprised at his good 

 fortune, and grateful for the information. 



On Easter Monday we left Nyora to visit a piece of virgin 

 country four and a half miles distant, on the road to Poowong. 

 The valle}^ having proved a failure, we decided to try its ex- 



