Apnl.j (jovDiE, Three Anglers at the Murray. I39 



careful handling is necessary to land them. While one of the 

 party was playing a fine three-pounder, a Tiger Snake scuttled 

 down the bank, passed between his feet, and slid into the 

 river ; but the angler kept his line tight, and the fish was safely 

 landed. Returning to camp with bulging fishing-bags, we 

 noticed a flock of about fifty Pelicans feeding on the Barney 

 Miller Creek. Taking alarm, they rose in a body, making a 

 great splashing as their broad wings struck the water. Half a 

 dozen stately' White Egrets wading in the shallows formed a 

 delightful picture, and amongst the branches of a lofty Red 

 Gum were seen several of the beautiful Yellow Parrakeet, or 

 Swamp Lory. Noisy Miners and Magpie-Larks were plentiful, 

 the brilliant plumage of the Bee-eater and Sacred Kingfisher 

 enli\'ened the scene, the Friar-bird amused us with his curious 

 vocal efforts, and the notes of the Bronze-winged Pigeon and 

 Peaceful Dove were constantly heard. On the New South 

 Wales side of the river a chain of small lakes extends inland ; 

 these are filled from the river during flood-time. These lakes — 

 Poomah, Poon-boon, Genoe, &c.— are proclaimed sanctuaries 

 for native birds, and on a previous \dsit by the writer, in the 

 month of April, the l)ird-life on and about them was worth 

 going a long way to see. Black Swans, Pelicans, Maned Geese, 

 ducks of many species. Cormorants, Grebes, and Coots almost 

 covered the surface of one small lake, which supported a 

 prohfic growth of " weed " and water-lily, while round tlu'. 

 shores or on the flats Herons, Spoonbills, Ibises, Egrets, Stilts, 

 Avocets, Plovers, Snipe, and Dottrel abounded. A number 

 of Whistling Eagles circled about, and a thousand feet over- 

 head soared the monarch of all — the Wedge-tailed Eagle. Of 

 interest to the naturalist, but heartily and frequently 

 anathematized by anglers, are the small tortoise of the Murray. 

 About noon on a liot day, as you walk along the bank, you hear 

 a succession of splashes, as, alarmed at your approach, the 

 tortoise dive into the river from the logs where they have been 

 basking in the sun. They take the bait from your hook with 

 fiendish persistence, but you cannot catch them. The big 

 spiny Murray lobsters are aiso very troublesome at times in this 

 way, especiall}' if you are using fish or bird for bait, and the 

 only tiling to do is to wind up and try to dodge them. 



When enough fish for the needs of the day had been caught 

 the rods would be laid aside, and tlie entomologist spent some 

 time turning logs and bark-stripping in a searcli for beetles. 

 Amongst those noti-d were Psalidiira flavosctosa, Sclcrorhinus 

 vestitus, S. siiblinealiis, Carcniiui aiithrciciniim, ('. iniitaior, 

 C. elegans, Clivina qitadraiifrons, Pheropsophiis vcriicalis, 

 Catadromus lacordnirci, and many others. Under a log was 

 found a specimen of the fine Tenebrionid, Prupliancs mdallesccns, 



