78 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



a flock of them. There must have been pretty well a hundred, 

 and the sun glinting on their plumage had a beautiful effect as 

 they flew from tree to tree. I only saw three black ones. The 

 scrub along the river was full of small birds. Little flocks of 

 Blue Wrens, Malurus cyaneus, and Red-browed Finches, Mgintha 

 temporalis^ hopped in and out of the bramble clumps ; 

 Acanthiza lineata and A. pusilla were plentiful ; Robins, Yellow- 

 breasted, Eopsaltria aiistralis, Flame-breasted, Pelroeca 

 Phoenicia, and Scarlet-breasted, P. leqgii, the Grey Shrike- 

 Thrush, Collyriocincla harmonica, White-shafted Fantail, 

 Rhipidura albiscapa, Black Fantail, Sauloprocta motacilloides, 

 a single specimen of the Mountain-Thrush, Geocichla lunulata, 

 Yellow-rumped Tit, Acanthiza chrysorrhma. White-throated 

 Thickhead, Pachycephala gutturalis. White-throated Tree- 

 creeper Climacteris leucophcm. White-browed Scrub-Wren, 

 Sericornis frontalis. All these birds were noted — common little 

 fellows, but helping to make the scrub lively. Twice I was 

 startled by a loud whirring close at hand, the cause being a fine 

 Wonga Pigeon, Leucosarcia jncata, which in each case merely 

 flew up into an adjacent wattle tree, and allowed me to approach 

 right up to the tree without moving. Twice also I heard the note 

 of the Lyre-bird, Menura superba. On more than one occasion 

 previously, when accompanied by dogs, they have put up these 

 birds, but, having no dogs this time, I did not get a sight of 

 them. 



Emerging from the scrub sometimes, and walking along the 

 sides of the hills, a different class of birds was seen. Sulphur- 

 crested Cockatoos, Cacatua galerita, irritated with their harsh 

 scream ; one flock of five Gang-Gang Cockatoos, Callocephalon 

 galeatum, flew across. Occasionally the mournful note of the 

 Chough, Corcorax melanorhamphus, drew attention to a small 

 flock of a dozen or so. Red Lories, Platycerus pennantii, in all 

 stages of plumage, and Rosellas, P. eximius, chattered in the 

 gum trees, some of the former very gorgeous in their crimson and 

 blue. The Black-backed Magpie, Gymnorhina tihicen, and the 

 Laughing Jackass, Dacelo gigas, were common. The only Honey- 

 eaters noticed were the Wattle-Bird, Acanthochcera carunculata, 

 and the Minah, Manorhina garrula. A few Brown Tree- 

 creepers, Climacteris scandens, were seen, also two Grey Magpies 

 Strepera cuneicatulacuta, and an occasional Crow, Corvus 

 coronoides. 



One thing I noticed was that the higher I got into the moun- 

 tains the scarcer the birds became, until at last they seemed to 

 disappear altogether, so after some lunch and a rest I turned back 

 and retraced my steps to the farm where I had left my horse. 



Mammals are rather scarce in these districts, and the only 

 specimen I saw was a Ring-tailed Opossum, which I shook out of 



