THE MUSEUM. 



117 



summit, and tlio edge of the disk is 

 not tlirown into undulations or "frill- 

 ed." Its colors are usually ii^'ht yel- 

 lowish and translucent, while the 

 tentacles are usually white. It 



lives most commonly attached to the 

 under side of boulders that have a cav- 

 ity beneath them, and is well adapted 

 to the aquarium, where it very soon 

 becomes perfectly at home and ex- 

 pands almost constantly. Inhabiting 

 the same region with this there is an- 

 other more rare species, Sagartia 

 inodiStii, Wrrill, which is duller in 

 color and less graceful in form, which 

 lives buried up to its tentacles in 

 gravel. 



Btsides the species already describ- 

 ed, there are several others that are 

 less conspicuous, which inhabit the 

 New England coast, several of which 

 live buried in sand or mud, like many 

 worms and only protrude their ten- 

 tacles at the surface. These kinds are 

 usually long and slender and taper at 

 the base instead of having a long and 

 flat adhesive disk. Further southward 

 on the Carolina coast, there are sev- 

 eral other peculiar species, some of 

 them beautifully colored and also sev- 

 eral species of true corals, the animals 

 of which closely resemble the Sea- 

 anemones in structure and habits. 

 One pretty species of coral i^Astrangia 

 Daiiic, .-igassisi is even found on the 

 southern coast of New England. This 

 is found just below low water mark, 

 encrusting stones and shells, and form- 

 ing little irregular masses of coral, 

 covered with star-like cells or cups, 

 which are about an eighth of an inch 

 ficross. The Polyps which in life rise 

 above these stellate cups, are color- 

 less and almost transparent, resemb- 

 ling in nearly all respects miniature 

 Actinias. The coral lives well in con- 

 finement, and feeds readily upon bits 

 of oyster in the same manner as the 

 Sea-Anemone. 



Some Notes from the Otways, 

 Victoria, Austrjilia. 



HV H. E. HILL. 



Owing to a variety of causes, our 

 usual Xmas camp to the Otway For- 

 est fell through this year, and the 

 members were scattered in various di- 

 rections. 



In company with Mr. |. F. Mulder, 

 I left Geelong on January 22d for his 

 orchard at Bambra, about five miles 

 beyond Deans Marsh on the Lome 

 road. We observed nothing of es- 

 pecial interest on the way — only the 

 usual plains birds being vfsible; on the 

 swamp at Modewarre, where we stop- 

 ped for lunch, there were good num- 

 bers of spurwing plover and sandpip- 

 ers. 



^^'hite cuckatoos were plentiful as 

 we entered the ranges, and it seemed 

 that the cry differed from some of 

 them; Mr. Mulder put this down to 

 the presence of two species — the co- 

 rella as well as the sulphur-crested be- 

 ing present; however, we did not get 

 an opportunity of verifying this. The 

 fires had cleared out most of the coun- 

 try near the road, so that there was 

 not a great abundance of birds, most 

 of them having been driven back or 

 destroyed, although there were a good 

 number of fern birds {Serico7'nts) to 

 be seen. Red Lories (Platyccrcits pen- 

 nautii) were rather common, and they 

 were in magnificent plumage; the bird 

 always seems to be clothed in richer 

 colors on the ranges than on the 

 plains. While taking a spell in a 

 shady nook in the garden we saw a 

 satin-bird ffemalej with some grass- 

 hoppers in its beak, but we could find 

 no trace of a nest. The grasshoppers 

 were just as plentiful in the ranges as 

 elsewhere; I found afterwards that 

 they had penetrated right through to 

 the coast, there being abundance of 

 them even down to the water's edge, 

 where they found that sea-bathing did 

 not agree with them. 



Though at the end of January, there 

 were still a few messmate trees in 



