Dec.n Kershaw, /i Naturalist in IS! orthern Queensland. us 



1Q14J ' ^ -" 



It is long and narrow, apparently about 15 to 18 inches in 

 length, and has ^ habit of swiftly skimming along the surface 

 for a distance of about 20 or 30 yards in an almost vertical 

 position, only its tail touching the water. I saw several of 

 these fish acting in a similar manner during my trip, but was 

 unable to obtain one for closer examination. 



All the morning we were passing close to the mainland, 

 which is here margined with high, rugged, thickly- timbered 

 hills, rising steeply from the water's edge, with here and there 

 a short, narrow, sandy beach. A good view of Mount Peter 

 Botte was obtained, and shortly after we reached Cooktown, 

 our last touch with civilization for some time. The few hours 

 at our disposal were spent in some open forest about a mile 

 from the town, where we obtained a number of butterflies, 

 among them being the large Troides pronomus, Danaida 

 affinis, D. archipptts, Melanitis bankia, Junonia alhicincta, 

 Euploea Sylvester, Hypolimnas (Diadema) nerina, Papilio 

 cegeus, &c. Callidryas pomona were flying commonly about 

 the streets. Cicadas were very numerous, and filled the air 

 with their shrill song. There seemed to be but one species — 

 M acrotristria intersecta. Insects generally, however, were 

 scarce, and, beyond the butterflies mentioned, little else was 

 seen, probably owing to the exceedingly dry state of the country. 

 The shore of the harbour is margined with mangrove, among 

 the roots of which the fish known as the " Mud Skipper," 

 Periophthalmtts, could be seen skipping rapidly over the muddy 

 surface. Among birds we saw several Whistling-Eagles, Yellow 

 Orioles, 0. flavicinctus. Fig-birds, Sphecotheres flaviventris, 

 Quoy's Butcher-bird, Cracticus qiioyi. Friar-bird, Philemon 

 sordidus. Yellow-spotted Honey-eater, Ptilotis notata, 

 Bichenov's Finch, Sun-birds, and Leach's Kingfisher, Dacelo 

 leachi. One of the latter was seen to enter the spout of a 

 gum-tree from which Dr. Macgillivray obtained two eggs on 

 a previous visit. 



Our boat was timed to leave at 8 o'clock the same evening, 

 but, owing to the tide failing to rise sufficiently high, we were 

 compelled to remain until nearly 10 o'clock the following 

 morning. From Cape Bedford, immediately north of Cook- 

 town, there is a long stretch of rather low, barren, sand-hill 

 country, more or less covered with low scrub, behind which, 

 in the far distance, is a range of high hills. The sand-hills 

 along the shore are deeply furrowed and cut into by wind 

 action, and in places seem to rise abruptly from the shore. 

 This long stretch of barren country suggests a natural barrier 

 to the fauna inhabiting the dense forest and scrubs to the north 

 and south. Proceeding north, still within the Barrier, numbers 

 of small, low-lying islands were passed, around which, at low 



