Vol. xn. 

 1913 



1 From Magazines, &c. ^99 



countries did something to conserve their fauna, and yet 

 Tasmania was doing practically nothing ? The Tasmanian 

 Government certainly wished well in the matter, and it was 

 trying to do something, but much more was necessary. Apart 

 altogether from the interest which the country should have in 

 preserving the native game, because of its economic connection 

 with the people, it should be possible to set apart an area of land 

 to be vested in trustees which could be used as a breeding 

 ground. This would be a sure way of preserving the remnant 

 of many of Tasmania's rare species. He could see no reason 

 why Freycinet's Peninsula and Schouten Island, off the East 

 Coast, could not be set apart for this purpose. In such a 

 sanctuary the native fauna could be preserved from destruction. 

 The whole question was one of utility, and that was why so 

 much attention was being paid to it. At present the fauna of 

 Tasmania was being eradicated, or at least most certainly being 

 suppressed. On the mainland they had the dreaded fox, which 

 was disturbing the balance of nature by ruining the useful 

 ground fauna. Fortunately Tasmania was without this pest, 

 and the mainland communities really looked to this State to 

 preserve what is typically Australian, and what had made 

 Australia zoologically famous. The sanctuary he suggested 

 was nothing like as big as Wilson's Promontory. It was poor 

 country from an agricultural point of view, and if there were any 

 minerals in it, there was land as likely to be productive else- 

 where in Tasmania a thousand times its area. There was only 

 one small piece of land, of 200 acres, taken up on the area he 

 suggested, so that if it was declared a sanctuary it would cause 

 very little immediate interference with vested rights," 



The Western Long-billed Cockatoo. — In The Ibis for October, 

 igi2, Mr. Tom Carter, R.A.O.U., of Wensleydale, Broome Hill, 

 Western Australia, has an interesting article on the Western 

 Long-billed Cockatoo {Licmetis pastinator). He states that this 

 fine bird has disappeared from the districts where it formerly 

 abounded, and seems to be nearing extinction. The following is 

 an extract from his paper : — 



" When corn is not obtainable, the Western Long-billed 

 Cockatoo feeds largely (like its eastern form, Licmetis nasica) 

 upon the bulbs and roots of various plants. One of its favourite 

 foods is the bulb of a small species of sundew (Drosera) that 

 grows as soon as winter rains fall, bearing a small white 

 flower. The scarlet berries of a small creeping plant (the 

 name of which is unknown to me) that grows abundantly on sand 

 plains are also much eaten. Probably the March visits of the 

 Cockatoos to the station are made in order to feed upon the 

 newly-sown wheat-grains. The locality is mostly heavy timber 

 country in its natural state, the nearest homestead to the eastward 



