76 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



line of defence was sharply defined by the shade cast by the 

 bush, and where the shadow of the tree-trunk fell a strong wing 

 was thrown out. The reason of this was that they could not 

 stand the heat of the sun, as was easily ascertained by placing a 

 few of them in the open, when in a few minutes tliey became 

 quite helpless. The F. purpurea hovered in force round this circle, 

 constantly rushing in and seizing one of the small ants and instantly 

 biting it in two, only, however, to be seized in turn by six or eight 

 of the defenders, which held on with bulldog-like tenacity, 

 whilst more of their comrades sawed the hapless prisoner into 

 several pieces. When once the small ants got a good hold they 

 never let go, mutilation, and death even, failing to loosen their 

 grip. Many of them were bitten off at the neck by the powerful 

 jaws of the large species, but still the heads remained clamped on 

 to the legs and antennas of their adversaries. Where the fighting 

 was fiercest there were rabid masses of both species as large as a 

 pea-nut locked together in deadly combat. The carnage went 

 on for four days, the F. purjntrea withdrawing their forces about 

 sunset, and marching out again soon after sunrise ; but on the 

 morning of the fifth day the purple warriors failed to put in an 

 appearance, leaving to their small but invincible antagonists a 

 well-earned victory. — J. C. Goudie. Birchip, 14th July, 1905. 



Fowls and Hawks. — Early one morning recently, my attention 

 was drawn to a disturbance in the poultry run. On going out to 

 ascertain the cause, I found a large hawk endeavouring to select 

 his breakfast from among the chickens. In one run I have two 

 hens with chicks, and I noticed that one (a white Wyandotte) 

 had collected both lots of chickens, and was harbouring them 

 underneath some scrub, while the other (a Minorca cross) 

 remained out in the open, keeping guard. Once the hawk 

 alighted upon the ground, then the hen made a rush at him, and 

 they actually came in conflict for about thirty seconds, when the 

 hawk was forced to retire. — J. Booth, Carlton. 



Early Butterfly. — While walking in the Domain near the 

 Alexandra-avenue on 6th August I saw ray first butterfly of the 

 season, a nice specimen of the ]:)retty yellow and black Terias 

 smilax (Don), flying among the long grass. — N. F. W. B. 



EXCHANGE NOTICES. 



OooLOGY AND CoNCHOLOGY. — Mr. W. N. Atkins, 25 Murray- 

 street, Hobart, member of the Tasmanian Field Naturalists' Club, 

 is desirous of exchanges with Victorian collectors. 



CoNCHOLOGY. — Mr. Wm. H. Weeks, jun., 506 Willoughby- 

 avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.A., is desirous of exchanging lists of 

 duplicates. 



Lkpidoptera. — Mr. Ross C. Winslow, Santa Clara, California, 

 U.S.A., wishes to exchange North American Lepido[)tera for 

 Australian. Specimens named, in papers. 



