266 NATURAL SCIENCE [October 
reached. It is a pity that the photograph given is no proof, owing to 
the absence of accessories. 
Passing from mammals to birds, we regret to learn that the lyre- 
bird, Menwra superba, is in danger of extinction. At the same time 
we can hardly wonder at it, since it is the supposed duty of every 
globe-trotter to bring home for his female relatives, present or future, a 
pair of the splendid tail-feathers to which the bird owes its name. In 
the excellent chapter on birds the greatest space is devoted to the fern- 
owls, Podargus strigoides ; and the humorous series of photographs, illus- 
trating the remarkable changes of form and expression in these quick- 
change artistes, should render them familiar in our mouths as household 
words. The familiar name, however, “more-pork,’ is based on a 
misapprehension, since the bird which utters this melancholy ery is 
really Ninox boobook. Other birds on which valuable notes are given 
are the Queensland shrike (Cracticus torquatus), the N. Queensland 
laughing jackass, various finches (Poephila), and the firetail (Hstrelda 
bella.) 
Zoologists will not be surprised to find a large space devoted to 
the frilled lizard, Chlamydosaurus kingi, since they will all be familiar 
with the interesting observations that Mr Saville-Kent has published 
on this reptile. Reptile one must call it, though its favourite mode 
of progression is rather that of the Anglo-Saxon messenger in “ Alice 
through the Looking-glass,” as shown in the figures. Another text-book 
error is to represent this animal with its frill extended, but with its 
mouth closed, a physiological impossibility, for the frill is supported by 
processes of the hyoid or tongue-bone, which are pressed out by the fall 
of the lower jaw. The bearded lizard (Aimphibolurus barbatus), the 
mountain devil (Moloch horridus), the stump-tailed lizard (7'rachysaurus 
rugosus), and many others are vividly brought before us by the author’s 
pen and camera. 
Chapter iv. introduces those marvellous structures, the homes 
of the termites or white ants, and gives some striking photographs 
of them. Among other things not generally known, we are told that 
both termites and termitaria may be used as food. The animals 
themselves, though eaten in Africa and India, do not yet grace the 
menu of Australian colonists or black-fellows, but the latter satisfy 
their hunger with the earthy substance of the mounds, which con- 
tains a large amount of proteaceous matter in the form both of 
termite-secretions and of microscopic fungi. Here we may also note 
that the green ants, described in another chapter, make, when mashed 
up in water, an avid drink pleasant to the European as well as to the 
native palate. Perhaps Mr Saville-Kent knows that Swedish children 
acidulate lump-sugar by leaving it in an ant-hill for half-an-hour. 
As for the food of the termites themselves, it is only too well known 
by those who have spent any time in our southern colonies, that 
many species have such a craving for wood that they will eat one 
out of house and home if constant care be not exercised. Their 
efforts produce a result like the sleeping palace of the fairy-tale, in 
so far as furniture and walls are outwardly sound but crumble to dust 
as soon as touched. There is therefore some consolation in learning 
from this book that the mound-builders do not eat wood but grass, 
sallying forth from their fortresses by night along hastily constructed 
