66 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. Vol. XXVI. 



Ducks, Casarca tadernoides, were seen feeding in a depression 

 filled by the waters of the irrigation channel, which, by the way, 

 draws its supplies from Lake Lonsdale, far to the south, near 

 Stawell. Along this channel a Pacific Heron, JVotophoyx pacifica, 

 was observed as it diligently policed the banks on the outlook 

 for those earth-boring crustaceans commonly known as "yabbies." 

 These creatures pierce the banks of the channels, and so 

 allow the water to escape, hence the herons are the irriga- 

 tionist's friends. 



Approaching Caraba-Canya we drove through a number of the 

 graceful Murray Pines, Callitris rohusta, growing upon slight 

 elevations. Along the bases of some of these elevations we 

 noticed numbers of small white mounds, known locally by the 

 native name " Copai." These mounds are quite devoid of 

 vegetation. Gypsum is to be found in many places, whilst 

 outcrops of limestone or desert sandstone are not infrequent. 

 We were hospitably received at the homestead, which is sub- 

 stantially built of limestone and bricks, and with numerous out- 

 buildings forms quite a small settlement. Shearing was in 

 full swing, while in another direction a number of men and 

 teams were engaged in excavating a huge tank in which to store 

 water from the channel for summer requirements. 



With a fresh pair of horses and the buggy piled high with our 

 luggage we set off, without a guide, on what we were told was 

 a 35-mile drive to Pine Plains, in the heart of the Mallee. The 

 additional information that the road would be sandy and the 

 travelling slow we soon found to be only too true, and we had 

 hardly left the homestead paddock when our road became a mass 

 of soft, fine sand, interspersed with the roots of the mallee, the 

 stems of which had been cut off level with the surface of the 

 ground. The consequence was that the vehicle bumped about 

 fearfully, and the horses had a hard struggle to get along with 

 their load. After a few miles of this soft, sandy road, two of us 

 decided to walk and save the horses as much as possible. We 

 soon out-distanced our vehicle, and, as we passed along the 

 bush track through typical Mallee scrub, we would occasionally 

 startle a White-eared Honey-eater, Ptllotis leucotis, or hear the 

 twittering of a Chestnut-rumped Tit, Acanthiza reguhides. A 

 nest of a Spiny-cheeked Honey-eater, Acanthochcera rii/igularis, 

 containing two eggs, was found near the edge of the track, 

 situated in a tangled mass of the smaller Clematis, C. microphylla, 

 and being constructed of green-coloured grass and twigs, was 

 almost invisible. In fact, had it not been for the bird flushing 

 out as we passed we would never have known that the nest 

 existed. 



Here and there the pug of a kangaroo's foot was discerned in 

 the soft sand, whilst several species of lizards, aroused by our 



