I/O Kershaw, A Naiuralist in Northern Queensland, [yyr'xxxi 



storms raged so fiercely that we fully expected to have our 

 tents blown away ; as it was, trees were uprooted and boughs 

 scattered all around us. Great trees in the scrub were blown 

 down, and in their fall tore down great masses of creepers and 

 \ines and several of the adjacent smaller trees, making great 

 gaps in the forest. The whole atmosphere was saturated with 

 moisture day and night, and we had the greatest difficulty in 

 ]M-eserving our specimens from mildew. These, with our 

 other belongings, had to be repeatedly un])acked, and. when 

 the sun appeared, dried and repacked. Thick growths of 

 mildew covered our bags, boots, and clothes stored in a water- 

 tight tent, and our everyday clothes and boots were rarely 

 dry. Myriads of mosquitoes appeared, and these, with three 

 or four species of March flies, Tabmiidce. which accompanied 

 us constantly in hundreds, tormented us night and day. The 

 heavy rains tilled the dry creeks and swamps, and caused the 

 river to rise seven or eight feet, making it impossible to use our 

 dingey for some time. They, however, did not prevent our 

 daily excursions, and we added considerably to our collections. 

 Among the birds which we now saw frequently were the 

 White-tailed Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Syma flavi- 

 roslris. Blue-breasted and f^esser Pittas, Pitta mackloti and 

 P. simillirna. White-browed Robin, Poecilodryas supcrciliosa, 

 White-liellied Flycatcher, Monarcha albiventer. Pearly Fly- 

 catcher, M. canescens, Spotted Cat-bird, Ailinuvdiis maculosus, 

 and many others, the eggs of all of which were found. Every 

 night we heard the calls of the Red-necked Rail, Rallina tricolor, 

 the first of which we noticed on 22nd December, and were 

 probably the earliest arrivals from New (iuinea. Many 

 additional insects were also collected, and it was noticeable 

 that these were becoming much more numerous since the rains 

 had started. Beetles not seen before now a})peared, and, 

 among these, the brilliantly-coloured Cetonids, Loniaptera 

 yorkiana, L. australis, and L. macrostica, which frequented the 

 tops of flowering shrubs and trees, at times in great numbers, 

 their presence usually being detected by the humming of their 

 wings. At the camp we were constantly being annoyed by 

 great numbers of a rather small carrion-feeding beetle, 

 PhcBOchroiis hirtipes, Macl., which were attracted by the light 

 of our camp. Every night hundreds of these beetles flew 

 around, dropping down our necks and into our food, and 

 even our beds were invaded. If a recently emptied jam tin 

 was left abf)ut it would be quite full of the beetles in the 

 morning. Bodies of birds thrown out after skinning would be 

 completely covered by thousands of these beetles in about 

 ten minutes, and within an hour or so bodies the size of a 

 Thrush or Laughing Jackass would be entirely denuded of 



