The South Australian Naturalist. 53 



mounted, but not yet placed on exhibition, most of them in 

 preparation for the projected ''Antarctic" case. The remain- 

 der of the afternoon was spent among the ethnological exhibits 

 in the Stirling Gallery, where Mr. Waite, in a chatty and 

 informative manner, introduced the party to the whole round 

 of interesting material there shown. 



Lecture, May 25. — Mr. E. Ashby lectured on "American 

 Birds at Home." He described a summer afternoon's walk in 

 the woods at Baltimore, and with wonderful mimicry gave the 

 calls of some of the birds. Unlike the Australian cuckoo, he 

 said, the American species lay their eggs in their own nests 

 and rear their own young. There are many species of sparrows, 

 and all are good whistlers. The crow's chief call is not "caa- 

 caa," but a coughing note, and the oven bird, in a rising 

 crescendo, calls "Teacher, teacher, teacher." The parson bird 

 has a habit of repeating itself. The large variety of humming 

 birds displayed was a feature of the evening. By means of 

 the rexophone, bird songs were produced. One record was 

 made by the bird itself — a nightingale. 



Lecture, June 15. — Mr. Walter Gill, F.L.S., Conservator 

 of Forests, lectured on "Forest Scenes." Mr. Gill illustrated 

 his lecture by a magnificent set of lantern slides of forest views 

 in this and other States, all of which were taken by himself. 

 Of Western Australian trees he showed Karri (Eucalyptus 

 diversifolia), Tuart (E. gomphocephala), and Wandoo (E. 

 redunca). The two latter were used largely for railway truck 

 construction, the cost of repairs for which only amounted to 

 10s. per annum, as compared with £3 7s. 6d. for steel trucks. 

 Both are being successfully grown in this State. The W.A.' 

 Red Gum (E. calophylla) is a brown timber, and is usually 

 indicative of good agricultural land. Jarrah was also shown 

 (E. marginata), but this timber is not a success grown here. 

 The giant tree of Tasmania (E. regnans), known as the Swamp 

 Gum, was shown. This is a handsome tree, and the views were 

 much admired; their value may be judged from the fact that 

 20,000 palings were cut from one tree. Scenes along the Huon 

 River showed how the timber grew right down to the 

 water's edge. Russell Park, of 25,000 acres, has recently been 

 made a National Park, and is practically unexplored. Some 

 very fine timber, specimens of Blackwood (Acacia melanoxy- 

 lon). Manna Gum (E. viminalis), Beech (Fagus Cunning- 

 hami). Swamp Gum and Stringybark (E. obliqua), with the 

 tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica), were shown. South Australian 

 scenes showed the Red Gum (E. rostrata) 120 feet high at 

 Wirrabara. In the north this gum always accompanies the 

 creeks, and is never found away from them. Big trees of the 



