78 NOTE ON A TASMANIAN "ACANTHIZA." 



the bird as an immature male of the common Brown Tail, 

 particularly as the month was that in which so many young 

 birds are procurable, but the actions and note of this in- 

 dividual were so totally different from that of the Tasmanian 

 Acanthiza that no doubt is left in my mind as to its dis- 

 tinctness. The common species is gregarious, nearly always 

 being found in little parties, which flit about with great zest 

 and activity, uttering in unison their peculiar little note, 

 which may be syllabised, zit, zit, zit, whoorl, the latter being 

 somewhat gutteral. The note of my new species resembles, tit, 

 tit, too, woo, the latter syllables being soft and melodious. 

 The dimensions of this example were as follow: — 

 Length, 4-0 inches ; wing, from carpal joint, 1-9 ; tail, 1'9 ; 

 tonces, 075 ; bill, to gape, 0-45. Iris light red (paler than 

 in the common species) ; bill, brown, slaty at the base ; legs 

 and feet dark olive brown. The contents of the stomach were 

 small ants and minute coleoptera, mixed with some curious 

 globular masses, resembling hard seeds. There can be little 

 doubt that this bird is, in reality, the Acanthiza ewingi of 

 Gould J which should, therefore, be reinstated in the Tas- 

 manian avifauna. 



NOTE ON THE YOEAOITY OF THE KELP FISH. 



While filing for crayfish recently, on the East Coast, I 

 caught a couple of so-called " Kelpfish " in the net. This 

 fish, belonging to the family Lahridcs, is a favorite bait with 

 fishermen for the crayfish caught in hand nets, and is found 

 in modenately shallow water, sometimes, and at others ia 

 deep pools, but always in beds of kelp. On opening the in- 

 dividuals I caught I was surprised to find their stomachs full 

 of the small while, conical, and calcareous shells which cover 

 the tops and sides of rocks, which are covered at high water ; 

 but among these were also moderately large limpet shells 

 swallowed whole, the fish, in some instances, being still 

 attached to the shell. Enclosed are some of these shells 

 from the stomach of one of the fish, which was about IJlb. 

 in weight. I examined its strong, circular teeth, and found 

 one tooth gone at the point of each jaw, evidently wrenched 

 out by the force of grasping such a strongly attached shell- 

 fish as the limpet. But great as the strength required to 

 detach a limpet, it must be nothing to the grinding, gnawing 

 motion required to tear off the small, scarcely protuberant 

 calcareous shells first mentioned, and with which the stomachs 

 were pretty well filled. 



It is a singular trait in the economy of this fish, which leads 

 it to subsist on such an apparently unappetising mass as 

 had formed the meal of these examples just prior to my 

 catching them. 



