100 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



a friend favourably situated. Mr. J. W. De Laney, writing from 

 the Omeo district, says : — " They (Lyre-Birds) have been excep- 

 tionally late in laying this season, and the male birds have 

 hardly whistled at all. I found a nest partly built and watched it 

 till the egg was laid on the ist September. The young bird did 

 not appear till the 21st October, which is 50 days. I was 

 beginning to think the egg was unfertile, and that the old bird 

 kept sitting on. Another nest that I found with the egg de- 

 posited a week later is not out yet (the time of writing), so the 

 extraordinary length of time appears to be no exception." — A. J. 

 Campbell. 



The Lesser Golden Plover. — I wish to record Maiden Island 

 as a habitat of the Lesser Golden Plover, Charadrius domlnicus, 

 Mull., the skin of a male bird in winter plumage having been 

 sent to me from thence by Mr. F. J. Fox. The distribution of 

 this species is almost universal, but Maiden Island, being an 

 isolated spot in the South Pacific Ocean (154° 58' W. long, and 

 4° 4' S. lat.), lends interest to the geographical distribution of 

 Australian birds. The complete range of this bird's migrations, 

 as known to 1896, is given in the " British Museum Catalogue of 

 Birds," vol. xxiv., while a list of the birds frequenting Maiden 

 Island will be found in the Victorian Naturalist, vol. vi., page 

 123, together with some interesting notes on the island by Mr. A. 

 J. Campbell. Sixteen birds are now recorded for Maiden I., nine 

 of which breed there, the others being simply visitors. — Robert 

 Hall. 



School Science. — In the School Paper for Class III. for 

 November, published by the Education Department of Victoria, 

 is a capitally written imaginary conversation among a group of 

 Magpie Larks or Pied Grallinas, in which their usefulness as 

 insect destroyers, and the value of the facts gathered by field 

 observers, is well brought out. A full-page illustration of the bird 

 and its nest adds to the interest of the sketch, which is contributed 

 by our fellow-member, Mr. Robert Hall. The same paper 

 contains a brief article on " The Aborigines of Victoria," by Mary 

 E. B. Howitt ; while an illustrated chapter, entitled " Honey- 

 comb," adds further interest to the paper from a natural history 

 point of view, and should do something in turning the thoughts 

 of young Victorians towards the works of nature. 



Scale Insects. — The Wombat, the journal of the Gordon 

 Technical College, Geelong, for July, contains a useful article on 

 " Victorian Coccidse," by Mr. James Lidgett, of Myrniong. The 

 writer gives a brief summary of the classification of the family, 

 including a list of the genera, also descriptions of several 

 Victorian species of scale-insects and gall-insects, with 

 illustrations. 



