t46 GouDiE. Three Anglers at the Murray. [voT.'xxxv'ii. 



in the act of changing from the pupa to the adult state. The 

 days passed happily and all too quickly. Anghng, of course, 

 was the main diversion, and no difficulty was experienced in 

 obtaining an ample supply of fish. Cod, Silver Percli, Yellow 

 Perch, and Bream were the fish caught. llic introduced 

 Brown Trout is said to be captured here occasionally, but none 

 came to our hooks. At a farm-house we were shown the head 

 of a Cod which weighed 58 lbs. It was caught on a night-line, 

 the bait on which had been swall<3wed by a small fish, which 

 had, in turn, been gorged by the big fellow. These veterans 

 of the river are only to be caught at night, and, having this in 

 mind, the enthusiast of the party (not the writer) decided to 

 try night-fishing, and bagged a nice lo-lb. Cod. The next 

 night he ventured again, and this time hooked a fish that tried 

 his tackle well. The tough green-heart bent and swayed and 

 the 5-inch reel hummed as the big Cod strove frantically to 

 reach the snags ; but time and skill prevailed, and he was lifted 

 out by the gihs — 15 lbs. to the ounce. At once extracting 

 the hook, a piece of stout line two yards in length was passed 

 round the gills and tied, the other end fastened to a stake 

 driven in the bank, and the fish returned to the river, httle the 

 worse for the encounter. Fish thus tethered may be kept a 

 couple of days and takt-n home fresh (as this one was) to con- 

 vince the sceptics that the biggest fish does not always 

 escape. 



The Satin Bower-Bird. — In the Sydney Mail of jolli March, 

 Mr. Jas. Potter, R.A.O.U., gives an account of the finding of 

 a bower of a Satin Bower-bird, Plilonor/iynchits violaceiis, Vieill., 

 in the National Park, at Port Hacking, near Sydney. He and 

 a fellow-naturalist had spent many week-ends in the haunts 

 of these birds on the look-out for a bovver, and at last detected 

 one not far from the main drive through the l^irk. The bower, 

 or " playhouse," consisted of a great numl)er of twigs stuck in 

 the ground in such a manner as to form an arch. This was 

 built on the ground in the middle wf a platform of pine needles 

 trampled flat, measuring about three feet in diameter, tlie 

 bower itself being about twelve inches long, just large enough 

 to accommodate the female bird. The structure is used only 

 for courting ])urposes, the male bird taking great pleasure in 

 decorating it daily with coloured articles of various descrip- 

 tions. In the case under notice i)lue flowers were brought 

 regularly for the purpose. Some blue beads thrown on the 

 ground som(; twenty feet from the bower were quickly delected 

 and added to the decorations. Mr. Potter \isited the bower 

 nearly every week-end for some time, and made notes of his 



