April,! Barnard and French, Visit to Mt. Piper. 189 



was presented to us. The orchid which we considered to be 

 Pterustylis mutica was growing" in a dampish i)lace in dozens, 

 and many fine specimens were obtained for herbarium pur- 

 poses. Stems with a dozen flowers were common, and one 

 possessed no less than eit^hteen. Though one of the smallest 

 of the j^reenhoods, in such numbers it became quite con- 

 spicuous. Associated with it was another orchid, Microtis 

 atrata, also Stackhuusia linarifolia and Microscris Forsteri, 

 the latter very fine, and amply rewardini;" the seeker after its 

 edible tubers. Other plants here were the singular depressed 

 acacia, A. tciiiiifolia, and the so-called Native Hop, Davicsia 

 latifolia, which was blooming very freely. We then kept 

 along the railway line, but our results afterwards proved 

 that we had struck it at the most interesting spot, for 

 little of note was seen during the three miles to Kilmore 

 East, where our wslk ended. 



Seeing that Mount Piper is not difficult of approach, it 

 might form the objective of some future excursion, though, 

 owing to its distance from town, it would require a whole 

 day for the outing. Thinking our orchid was P. mutica, 

 several specimens were sent to the National Herbarium, and 

 to Dr. Rogers, of Adelaide, who immediately wrote, pro- 

 nouncing it to be P. cyanoccplicla of I'itzgerald, recorded 

 from New South Wales and South Australia, but up to then 

 unrecorded from Victoria. He states that it is sc[)arable 

 from r. mutica by a difference in the aj^pcndage of the 

 labellum, but Professor Ewart regards the difference as too 

 indcliifite on which to found a new species. 



Swamp-Hawk. — When visiting Phillip Island in NoNcnihcr 

 last, I found a nest with four young in it — or, rather, out of 

 it, scattered round about the nest. It was noticeable that, 

 while two of the birds were still in down, the other two were 

 well advanced in feathering, and I considered that there was 

 not less than a fortnight's difference between the ages of the 

 birds. Three visits were paid, at weekly intervals, to the nest, 

 finding the same relative difference on each occasion. This 

 fact seems to me very interesting, as it raises the (piestion. 

 Do some birds, when incubating their eggs, start to lay again ? 

 or is there some other e.xjilanation ? I have been informed 

 by Mr. Le Souef that the bird in question, the Swamp-hawk 

 ((iould's Harrier), has been known in one instance to act as 

 above, but with fatal results to the younger birds, for the elder 

 fledgelings ate them uj^. Mr. Keartland tells me that in most 

 birds of prey the female is the stronger and fiercer, and pro- 

 bably the smaller birds noted were the males. — J. Gahkiel. 

 loth March, 1913. 



