42 IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS 



blossoms, the Bower-Birds must have visited a set- 

 tler's garden, two or three miles from the scrub. We 

 caught glimpses of the birds, several females, and a 

 male in the "full dress" of shining blue-black (it is 

 believed that the adult plumage is not fully assumed 

 until the bird is seven years of age). A nest was dis- 

 covered some distance from the bower, in a Musk 

 tree. But it was old and empty, and we concluded 

 that it was too early yet for nidification. November 

 is a good month to search for Satin Bower-Birds' 

 nests. 



Towards evening the return journey to the town- 

 ship was begun. A huge Tree-fern, dead and in- 

 clined over a tiny creek, detained us for awhile. It 

 was festooned with leaf and tendril, and the delicate 

 blossoms of Tecoma australis. Mosses had woven 

 a green mantle for the brown trunk, and many little 

 ferns clung to it: a botanical garden in miniature. 



* ;- * * * # 



A week in Lakeland is not so pleasant now as it 

 was in former years. The country has been opened 

 up, and the lake townships are popular holiday re- 

 sorts. On the Ninety Mile Beach, however, one may 

 wander in solitude and listen undisturbed to the long 

 wash of waves and the cries of Silver Gulls. After 

 a storm there are shells to be gathered on the wild 

 beach, and queer objects which the sea has jettisoned. 

 On a lucky day the shell of a Pearly Nautilus will 

 be found, stranded in a shallow or wrecked on the 

 beach. 



Most visitors to the Gippsland Lakes make the 

 trip to Buchan Caves, a fairly long journey. As a 

 rule, it is unprofitable for a naturalist to follow the 

 tourists' trail; but in this instance it is worth while. 

 A drive of five miles from Cunninghame brings one 

 to the southern landing of Lake Tyers. The voyage 

 through this loveliest of Victorian lakes to Nowa 

 Nowa is enchanting. The shores, for miles, are 



