io6 A BUSH CALENDAR 



pushed my way through the leaves, and found that the place 

 was pink with the early boronia. I had not noticed it before, 

 but now I found it at every step. It is not the prettiest of 

 the boronias ; its pink is perhaps rather crude, but very lovely 

 it looked amongst the grey sand and dark green bushes. 1 

 stayed to pick an armful and a few stray spikes of tea-tree, 

 which toned down the harshness. Then, as I left the shelter 

 of the scribbly gums and the banksias, I came upon some more 

 whitebeards, this time in full flower. They were a smaller 

 kind than those I had passed before, not growing more than a 

 foot high, but a brave little show the things made. I stopped 

 to add a few sprays to my bunch, and also a piece of the 

 beautiful red five-corner, and then I set my face to the track 

 again, determined to loiter no longer. I had to stop once to 

 pick some fine spikes of the pink sprengelia and a few pieces of 

 the green five-corner, also some sprays of the honey-sweet 

 native jasmine, whose white star flowers made a brilliant show, 

 but after that I kept on my way. Perhaps the fact that my 

 hands were as full as they would hold helped me in my deter- 

 mination, for it certainly requires great strength of mind to 

 pass any of the first spring blossoms. But there was the nest 

 at the end of my walk, and, I hoped, the little fluffy brown chick, 

 so I hurried on. 



I knew the way quite well, and less than half an hour's walk 

 brought me to the spot. As I drew near I heard the voice 

 of the lyre bird down in the gully, and quickened my steps, 



