^^"yl Field Naturalists' Club — Proceedings. 105 



Cainozoic flora in Australia. In Victoria leaf-beds of this age 

 occur at Berwick, Flemington, and other places. The great 

 deposits of brown coal at Altona and IMorwell contain a great 

 variety of vegetable remains, in which a Callitris (Murray Pine) 

 figures largely. New South Wales, Queensland, South Aus- 

 traha, and Tasmania also supply examples which undoubtedly 

 belong to this age. 



NATURAL HISTORY xNOTE. 



Miss C. C. Currie, of Lardner, forwarded a note; with a photo- 

 graph of a remarkable occurrence of seedhng tree-ferns around 

 the stem of a Hill Tree-fern, Alsophila aiistralis, about eighteen 

 inches below the crown of fronds. The tree-fern is about 

 fourteen feet in height, and is growing on the sheltered side 

 of her house. She asked if any member had ever seen a 

 similar occurrence. 



Mr. F. Pitcher said that in his long experience among ferns 

 he had never seen anything resembling the growth detailed 

 by Miss Currie. 



Mr. F. G. A. Barnard read a short extract from a letter 

 received from a country member, Mr. D. J. Paton, who had 

 recently visited the groups of palms, Livistona australis, at 

 Cabbage-tree Creek, East Gippsland. The writer said that the 

 palms are in good condition. He had counted over sixty 

 specimens, some of which are well over 100 feet in height. 

 Several were in flower, but too high up to examine properl}\ 

 Many seedlings were seen and seeds picked up, so that there 

 should be no doubt about the permanence of the patch. 



In reply to a question by Mr. A. E. Keep, Mr. G. A. Keart- 

 land said that partridges have not acchmatizcd well in Victoria. 

 They may have a couple of broods, but not more. On the 

 other hand, pheasants have done wtU, and have to be shot over 

 in order to control their numbers. 



Mr. J. Gabriel said that on two previous occasions he had 

 related the persistence of a pair of swallows in endeavouring 

 to build a nest under a verandah, though it had been destroyed 

 at least a dozen times. They had since succeeded in compU^ting 

 a nest in another spot ancl rearing a brood. Recently they 

 resumed operations under the verandah, and worked from 

 daybreak to about 2 p.m. When the nest was destroyed, 

 however, another nest was built next morning. 



Mr. P. C. Morrison said that a friend at Swan Hill had told 

 liim of a pair of Magpies bringing out a brood of young ones 

 near a house, and close by a pair of Black-and-White Fantails 

 had also brought out a brood. The I'^antails had so liarassed 

 the Magpies when feeding tiieir young that after a week the 

 Magpies gave up the task, and allowed Uunr young to die. 



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