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THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



bills {Notornis alba), about the size of 

 a hen, being very plentiful. These could 

 not fly, but wandered around fearlessly 

 just as do the descendants of some 

 others of their fellow inhabitants to tins. 

 day. But, alas, their flesh seemed so 

 good to those who followed in the 

 Lieutenant's wake tliat within an in- 

 credibly short space of time this unique 

 and trusting bird became extinct. Save 

 for a single skin in the \'ienna Museum 

 and a few notes in journals recording 

 orgies of killing, we know nothing ot 

 the existence of this remarkably inte- 

 resting species. One can scarcely sup- 

 pose, however, that man alone was re- 

 sponsible for its annihilation, smce the 

 island is so rugged that the bird must 

 have had numerous strongholds to re- 

 tire to where man has even yet never 

 ventured. But if it was not man, it was 

 the cats, pigs, or other animals which he 

 liberated, and which running wild, 

 spread themselves throughout the bush, 

 playing havoc among the unsuspecting 

 birds. 



Lord Howe Island is a dependency of 

 New South Wales, and was wisely pro- 

 claimed a reserve so long ago as 1879. 

 It has rather over one hundred in- 

 habitants who are mostly sliare-hoid.-n's 

 in a company controlled by the Govern- 

 ment, the business of which is to collect 



Thatch Palms, and sheds built of their 

 their leaves. 



the seeds of the so-called "Ker^tia'" 

 palms. These are peculiar to thi; in- 

 land, and supply the world with one of 

 its most decorative and familiar plants. 

 A resident born on the island acquires 

 so many shares upon attaining his ma- 

 jority, and thereafter receives his share 

 of both the labours and profits of the 

 company. The younger men have oc- 

 casional work to do which is of a very 

 arduous and dangerous nature, but they 

 liave long intervals in which to enjoy the 

 many advantages of their island home. 



"kentia" palms. 

 These are perhaps the most decora- 

 tive of all plants, and their deli^-ate 

 greenery is in unceasing demand all the 

 world over. Whether it be in the 

 saloon of an ocean liner, tlie winter gar- 

 den of a hotel, or even in some stuffy 

 grill-room, there we find palms. These 

 are almost always the Thatch Palm, 

 Howea fosteriana, a species peculiar to 

 Lord Howe Island, for this, better than 

 any other, is able to withstand the un- 

 kind treatment such palms receive. Un- 

 der natural conditions they flourish in 

 a rather hungry soil, formed chiefly of 

 coral sand which is often only a f(X)t or 

 two in depth. They commonly grow so 

 thickly that they must compete with one 

 another to secure a sufficiency of sun- 

 light to enable 

 them to Ix'ar 

 seed. T h u s e 



which surv i v e 

 are therefore 



very hardy and 

 well adapted for 

 artificial culti- 

 vation. 



The world ac- 

 cordingly a=ks 

 for their see;is, 

 several thou- 



sand bushels of 

 which are sent 

 away eacli year, 

 forming Uie 



principal expjit 

 of the i'^land. 

 They liave to be 

 climbed for in 

 stems and covered with the virgin forest, 



Photo— A. R. McCulloch. and perhaps 



