jan.,"| Hardy, The Mallee : Ouyen to Pinnaroo. 167 



Map. 



Numbers in circles are referable to the above list of prior papers. 



An undulating line divides the desert mallee, approximately, from the 



better part, and both of these from the rest of the State. 

 Annual rainfall averages are figured within the left-hand margin, and the 



respective isohyetose lines are broken. 

 The scale of the map is about 28 miles to i inch. 



Mutton-birds. — In my paper, " Further Notes on Mutton- 

 birds " (Vict. Nat., March, 1912, xxviii., p. 206), which I read at 

 one of our meetings some two years ago, I spoke of the exagger- 

 ated accounts of so-called cruelty to the Mutton-birds at Phillip 

 Island, and pointed out that the presence of barbed-wire fences 

 was the primary cause of the numerous deaths and woundings of 

 the birds. After the meeting two members questioned my state- 

 ment, and said that dead birds had been found lying in heaps 

 as evidence of cruelty, and that large quantities of bones were 

 scattered about, pointing to former slaughter. I am now in a 

 position to say that errors have crept into these statements also. 

 The heaps of birds spoken of were killed outright to obtain 

 ''beak oil," and were all young birds. This product is used 

 medicinally, and is much more expensive than the " bird oil,'* 

 which is obtained by boiling down the birds. With reference 

 to the quantities of bones lying about, the explanation is 

 interesting. Some few years ago at nesting time an extensive 

 sand-drift took place at the rookeries, and covered up a large 

 number of the holes, smothering the nesting birds. During 

 recent years the sand drifted in the opposite direction, laying 

 bare the ©Id rookeries and revealing the bones of the smothered 

 birds. — Joseph Gabriel. 8th December, 1913. 



[Fine series of views of the Mutton-bird rookeries, &c., at 

 Phillip Island, were published in the Leader of 13th December, 

 1913, and Weekly Times of 3rd January, 1914. — Ed. Vict. 

 Nat.] 



Tourist Maps. — ^Two new tourist maps have recently been 

 issued by the Lands Department. That of Lome is entirely 

 new, and it is the first tim^ that the environs of that picturesque 

 watering-place have been mapped. It is on the generous scale 

 of half a mile to an inch, and gives the coast line from Airey's 

 Inlet to the Cumberland River, a distance of about 15 miles. 

 The tracks to all the beauty spots are marked, while on the 

 other side of the folder illustrations are given of some of the 

 falls and other features of the district, together with descriptive 

 letter-press and the mileage to various points. The second map 

 is a new edition of the Healesville-Warburton plan, and one side 

 of this sheet is also devoted to descriptive letter-press and 

 illustrations, making it a very useful companion when visiting 

 the Upper Yarra district. It is on the scale of i mile to i inch, 



