COLONIAL MUSEUM. 67 



of filaments. I have found this larva enclosed 

 in its case of various sizes from three to six 

 inches ; this has led me to conclude that, like 

 the caddis worms, they increase in size in the 

 larva state, enlarging their habitations as the 

 former ones become too small for the increased 

 size of their bodies. I found, by cutting one of 

 the cases open, that they readily repair any injury 

 their dwellings may have sustained, for a few 

 hours only having elapsed after I had made the 

 incision to view the contained larva, I found 

 the case restored as firmly as before. 



In company with my friend, Mr. Lauga, I 

 visited the colonial museum, which is arranged 

 for the present in a small room, assigned for the 

 purpose, in the council-house, and which had 

 been recently established at Sydney : it forms an 

 excellent nucleus for a splendid collection, par- 

 ticularly in a country so prolific in rare, valuable, 

 and beautiful specimens of natural productions. 

 For the present, the ornithological collection is 

 by far the best, both for the number, and being 

 beautifully stuffed and " set up" in attitudes, from 

 which it is evident that nature has been closely 

 studied. Specimens of the families Columbae, 

 Psittaceae,^* Raptores, &c. are the most nu- 



* Among the PsittacecB tribe is the Psittacus Nova Hoi- 

 landicB, curious as being one of the parrot tribe, seen and 



F 2 



