50 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



caution exercised, I never succeeded in obtaining even a glimpse 

 of one. A few of their " dancing mounds " were noticed. This 

 habit of throwing together heaps of bark, leaves, and twigs 

 suggests a touch of kinship between these birds and the Mega- 

 podidse. I am indebted to Mr. F. Harvie, who acted as guide, 

 for the pleasure of seeing a Lyre-bird's nest, snugly situated in a 

 hollow burnt in the side of a large dead tree, some 7 or 8 feet 

 from tne ground, in very dense Hazel and Cotton-bush scrub. 

 Climbing up to look into the nest, I was met " eye to eye " by a 

 Tiger Snake coming out ; needless to say, my retreat was more 

 hasty than dignified, but a well-aimed blow from my companion's 

 waddy settled the reptile before it reached the ground. I 

 mention this incident to show the danger, in snake-infested 

 districts, of feeling with the hand in any large nest before taking 

 measures to wake up a possible unwelcome inmate. Satin 

 Bower-birds, PtUonorhynchus violaceus, were fairly numerous, 

 frequenting the vicinity of fruit-gardens in the early mornings, 

 and making free with the ripening fruit. All those seen were the 

 greyish-green females or immature birds. In a patch of burnt 

 scrub a small company of Ground-Wrens, Hylacola cauta, was 

 met with ; their specific name is well deserved, for they 

 watch the intruder narrowly from some point of vantage 

 where they can see all around ; while a person remains in their 

 vicinity this keen scrutiny is never relaxed, but at the same time 

 they are not shy. This species appears, in the field, to differ but 

 slightly from its northern congener, H. pyrrhojygia, both in 

 appearance and behaviour. 



Of Parrakeets, those most in evidence were the Rosella, 

 Platycercus eximiiis, and the Crimson Parrakeet, P. elegans. 

 The latter were for the most part in immature plumage, some 

 showing traces of crimson on the under parts. Can any of our 

 " bird-men " say when the full — that is, mature — plumage is 

 assumed ? At intervals a pair of Black Cockatoos, C. Junereus, 

 might be seen passing high overhead, uttering a sound not unlike 

 the creaking of a rusty door-hinge. The steady, deliberate flight 

 of these birds gives the impression that they are making a " bee 

 line " for some place at least 100 miles distant. 



On one occasion I saw a pair of birds in the scrub which I 

 took to be the Olive Thickhead, Pachycejjhala olivacea, but 

 cannot be certain of this, for though I subsequently visited the 

 locality with the intention of procuring a specimen, I never saw 

 them again. 



Native Bears, Phascolarctus cinereus, were occasionally seen in 

 the day-time, asleep in a fork of some tall White Gum tree. A 

 loud snorting or grunting noise, usually heard about sunset, was 

 attributed by local residents to these animals ; it could be easily 

 heard at a distance of a quarter of a mile. Wombats' holes are 



