Vol.XXVIlI. 



I0I2 



] Notes. 183 



parts of New South Wales, and have never seen it eat anj-. 

 though I have seen it eating large quantities of other insects. 

 Many people only need a very small excuse for the destruction 

 of native birds, and the name of " Bee-eater " is a fine " handle " 

 in itself. Now, I have found this bird to be widely known in 

 New South Wales as " Rainbow -bird," and I notice that Mr. 

 Leach gives that as an alternative title in his " Australian 

 Bird Book." Why not, then, in the cause of the protection 

 of this bird, adopt " Rainbow-bird '" as the principal vernacular 

 name for this beautiful and graceful thing ? Naturalists will 

 still know that it is a member of the Meropidct, or Bee-eaters. 

 — Davtd G. Stead. Sydney, 27th December, iqii. 



Melbourne Botanic Gardens. — A guide plan, on the scale 

 of 5 chains to i inch, of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and 

 surroundings has just been issued by the Lands Department. 

 It has been beautifully executed, and enters into minute details 

 of the area bounded by the St. Kilda-road, Domain-road, and 

 Anderson-street, with a large portion of Yarra Park, and shows 

 what a grand asset Melbourne possesses in that block. Now 

 that " The Grange," at the corner of St. Kilda and Domain 

 roads, has been to some extent destroyed by fire, it is to be 

 hoped another effort will be made to restore the site to the 

 Domain. Another blot is the portion recently excised in 

 Domain-road for the purpose of a wireless telegraphy station, 

 which we trust is only temporary. 



The Dune-Areas of New Zealand. — Dr. Cockayne, F.L.S., 

 has written another of his painstaking reports on the economic 

 botany of New Zealand, taking for his subject the treatment 

 of the sand-dune areas of the Dominion. Naturally, with so 

 many miles of sea-coast, large areas of sandy wastes are likely 

 to occur, and Dr. Cockayne estimates these at 290,000 acres 

 in the North Island and 24,000 in the South Island. Dealing 

 first with the geology and botany of the dunes, he shows how 

 they originate and spread and shift their positions. He next 

 describes the various plants with which they are to some extent 

 clothed. The most important part of the report, however, is 

 that which deals with the means of reclamation of the dunes, 

 which he regards as quite possible, both as grass lands and 

 sites for the growth of certain timber trees, and in this latter 

 connection no less than twenty-seven eucalypts and eight 

 acacias are named. The report is copiously illustrated with 

 many beautiful plates, and not the least interesting part is the 

 splendid bibliography of the works consulted, both relating to 

 New Zealand and to other parts of the world. 



