THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



and the Graceful Honey-eater, P. omata, were to be seen feeding 

 on the nectar. The colour of the former bird is much lighter 

 than the specimens usually met with in the vicinity of Melbourne. 

 Arrived at Lake Albacutya we decided to spend a few days 

 collecting in the vicinity. The " Native Hollyhock," Lavattra 

 plebeja, grows here abundantly, and on account of its tall spikes 

 of beautiful bluish flowers should be introduced into our gardens. 

 On the sandhills near the lake some very fine specimens of Cassia 

 sturtii, a shrub with beautiful yellow flowers, were found, artd on 

 the leaves of the introduced Flat ^Veed, Bi/poc/ueris glabra, was 

 noticed a fungus, Puccinia Ideracii, which according to Mr. D, 

 M'Alpine, the Government Vegetable Pathologist, is new for 

 Victoria. This fungus attacks the young plants only, covering 

 the leaves with small black shining spots, each nearly the size of 

 a pin's head. Another fungus, Septorii tabacina, M'Alpine, was 

 also found attacking the Native Tobacco, Nicotiana suaveoleris, 

 and has been described by Mr. M'Alpine in the Victorian 

 Naturalist, vol. xvi., p. 141. 



Lake Albacutya is a fine sheet of water, having an area of 

 about twenty square miles, but presents a peculiar appearance 

 owing to the great number of small dead trees standing in the 

 northern end of the lake. This fact would tend to show that at 

 no very distant period the lake must have been dry, and that for 

 some years. The Little and the Little Black Cormorants had just 

 finished building their nests in these dead trees, but the nests were 

 as yet without eggs. The only aquatic plants growing in the lake 

 were Azolla Jiliculoides and a species of Nitella. On the edges of 

 the lake grew large patches of Clienopodiiun atriplicinum, which 

 is regarded as a splendid fodder plant in these parts. Australian 

 Coots and Black Swans were seen in dozens, swimming on ihe 

 lake, also the Australian Tippet Grebe, the Pelican, and several 

 species of ducks, but as the latter were some distance from us we 

 had difticulty in identifying the species with certainty. The 

 Black-fronted Dottrels, J'Jgialitis melanops, were everywhere to be 

 seen running along the edge of the water, and though a diligent 

 search was made for their eggs we were unsuccessful. This 

 Dottrel, as is well known to oologists, has the habit, as a protec- 

 tion to her eggs, of smearing them over with mud, which makes 

 their discovery exceedingly difficult. 



From Lake Albacutya we went to Lake Bambrook, a much 

 better collecting ground for the naturalist. Birds, plants, and 

 other specimens of natural history were here in profusion. Among 

 the commoner plants were Ileliotropiam curassavicuin, Styphelia 

 cordifolia, a tall-growing species with small flowers ; Boronia 

 ccerulescens, bearing blue and white flowers, and many others. 

 As in Lake Albacutya the only water plants growing here were 

 Lemna and Nitella. That noble-looking bird, the White-bellied 



