( xi ) 



brown, with two black ocellated spots upon the upper ones ; 

 the body filled with yellow oil, and covered with down." . . . 

 "On showing them [the Murrumbidgee natives] the few 

 insects I had, they recognizetl them instantly ; but I thought 

 there was a feeling of disappointment at their curiosity only, 

 not appetites, being gratified by my little entomological 

 collection." {Log. cit., p. 274.) 



It seems evident from this that Mr. Bennett is right in 

 calling the Bugong a moth, and that it is at any rate 

 certainly not a Buplma. This fact robs the observation ot' 

 some of its significance ; nevertheless it seemed to be worth 

 while to find out if possible the origin of the mistake. The 

 explanation proved to be a simple one, but it affords so good 

 an example of the way in which errors are propagated from 

 book to book, that I think I may venture, without wearying 

 my audience, to give a brief sketch of the histoiy of this 

 curious misapprehension. 



On an earlier page of the ''"Wanderings," Mr. Bennett had 

 been commenting on the gregarious habit of the Bugong, the 

 purpose of which, he says, our present knowledge is insufficient 

 to determine. To this passage he appends a footnote, which 

 runs thus : "Captain Cook mentions, that at Thirsty Sound, 

 on the coast of New South Wales, he found an incredible 

 number of butterflies ; so that, for the space of three or four 

 acres, the air was so crowded with them, that millions were 

 to be seen in every direction, at the same time that every 

 branch and twig was covered with others that were not upon 

 the wing ; and Captain King observes ( ' Survey of the Coast 

 of Australia,' vol. i, p. 195): 'Here, (Cape Cleveland,) as 

 well as at every other place that we had landed upon within 

 the tropic, the air is " crowded" with a species of butterfly, a 

 great many of which were taken. It is, doubtless, the same 

 species as that which Captain Cook remarks as so plentiful 

 in Thirsty Sound. The numbers seen by us were indeed 

 incredible ; the stem of every grass tree, (Xanthorrhoea,) 

 which plant grows abundantly upon the hills, was covered 

 with them ; and on their taking wing, the air appeared, 

 as it were, in perfect motion. It is a new species ; and 

 is described by my fiiend, Mr. W. S. ^MacLeay, under 



