196 IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS 



yellow beneath was not easily detected, because it 

 harmonised well with its surroundings. This species 

 sometimes attains a length of seven feet, but none that 

 we saw exceeded five feet. 



Nightly we were serenaded by Slender Tree Frogs 

 [Hyla gracilenta] , attractive creatures, of a bright 

 green or yellowish-green colour. Two fine specimens 

 were found in a cavity in a rotting fence post, and 

 one of the pair was subsequently domiciled in an Ade- 

 laide garden. When last I saw it, the frog was cling- 

 ing to a pot-plant in a greenhouse, apparently as 

 happy as ever it was in the fence post on the Tweed. 

 There were other animal musicians whose evening 

 concerts became rather wearisome. The Cicadas in 

 the Lantana bushes by the riverside began to "fiddle" 

 at about 6 p.m. each day, a habit which earned them 

 the name of "Six-o'clock Cicadas." Often I waited to 

 hear them, and the following extract from my note-- 

 book was written on such an occasion : "Fruit Bats 

 are flying around the old Moreton Bay Fig, beneath 

 which I am seated, and Cicadas among the Lantana 

 bushes have begun to stridulate. The river is placid. 

 a mirror for crimson clouds and purple hills." 



Butterflies were a constant delight, and in the 

 course of our rambles along the river banks we identi- 

 fied a fair number of species. A specimen of the 

 curious Glass-wing Butterfly [Acrssa andromacha ] , 

 which is the only representative of the sub-family 

 Acrseinae in Australia, was captured. The fore wings 

 are hyaline, with brown markings, while the hind 

 wings, creamy-white with brown margins, are opaque. 

 These insects are believed to be distasteful to birds, 

 and presumably other animals; but when dining in a 

 Brisbane restaurant I rescued a Glass-wing Butterfly 

 from a cat, which had captured it in the yard. 



A trip to Mount Warning was, perhaps, our most 

 memorable excursion from Tumbulgum. An easy- 

 going aborigine was engaged as guide, as he promised 



