156 THE Victorian naturalist. 



Mr. Robert Hall, the well-known bird-lover, and member of 

 the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, left Melbourne early last 

 month on an extended collecting trip through Ceylon, Singapore, 

 and Japan to Siberia, and thence to Europe. He is accompanied 

 by Mr. R. E. Trebilcock, of Geelong, also an enthusiastic 

 naturalist, and we wish them every success in their investigations. 



Pulpit Rock, Cape Schanck. — The Pulpit Rock, off Cape 

 Schanck, was named over sixty years ago on account of its bearing 

 on its summit an excrescence about 6 feet high that suggested to 

 seafaring men passing by in their vessels the appearance of a 

 pulpit ; but few, if any, knew what the so-called pulpit was 

 composed of In reality it was the nest of a pair of White-bellied 

 Sea-Eagles, Haliaetus leucogaster, which had probably been used 

 for many years, and so had reached a very large size. It was 

 composed mostly of sticks, many being fairly large, as well as 

 some seaweed, bones, &c. ; but unfortunately for the birds they 

 were both shot by visitors from Flinders many years ago, and the 

 nest, strong as it was, has gradually been blown away bit by bit, 

 until nothing remains of it. The rock on which it was placed, 

 and which is named " Pulpit Rock " on the chart, is now often 

 wrongly called by visitors " Pyramid Rock," as they see nothing 

 on it that gives the appearance of a pulpit. Pyramid Point is on 

 Phillip Island. Although this rock is close to the mainland, it 

 has surf breaking all round it, and in consequence is exceedingly 

 difficult to land on, and one life was lost some years ago in an 

 attempt to do so, the venturer being drawn out to sea and 

 drowned. — D. Le Souef. 



[An illustration of Pulpit Rock will be found as a frontispiece 

 to vol. ii. of " The Aborigines of Victoria," R. Brough Smyth, 

 F.L.S., Melbourne, 1878.— Ed. Vict. Nat.] 



Prostanthera walteri, F. v. M. — This shrub, originally 

 found by Mr. C. Walter on Mount Ellery, Croajingolong, East 

 Gippsland, in December, 1869, and named after him by Baron 

 von Mueller (" Fragmenta," vol. vii., p. 108), and subsequently 

 found by a New South Wales collector on Mount Hay in that 

 State, has recently been added to the flora of N.E. Victoria, 

 having been found by Dr. Sutton and Messrs. Barnard and 

 Weindorfer during a collecting trip in the Buffalo Mountains, 

 December, 1902. 



New Australian Birds. — The Ibis for October, 1902, 

 contains coloured plates of the two new Australian birds, 

 Eremiornis carteri and Platycerctos macgillivrayi, named and 

 described by Mr. A. J. North, C.M.Z.S., Australian Museum, 

 Sydney, in the Victorian Natur-alist, vol. xvii. (1900). The 

 birds were exhibited at a recent meeting of the British 

 Ornithologists' Club, and the illustrations are accompanied by 

 some remarks by Dr. Sclater, F.Z.S. 



