176 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



untiring- efforts of tlic crew, and the 

 use of long-liandletl landing nets re- 

 (luisitioned for the purpose. 



The deek-hands are very experienced 

 in the art of net mending, and most of 

 the minor tears are attended to while the 

 net is being drawn in by liand over the 



ship's side. I was greatly amazed at 

 the rajiidity with which the meshing of 

 an irregular tear was replaced. When 

 extensive damage is sustained, the mend- 

 ing is facilitated by the entire replace- 

 ment of the particular ''section" of the 

 net that has been torn. 



Trawling at sea. 



Photo. — A. Musgrave. 



Marauding Fishes. Mr. E. H. Rain- 

 ford, a valued correspondent of the 

 Museum, which he has supplied with 

 many interesting specimens, sends us the 

 following note from Bowen, Queensland. 

 "When hunting for star-fish on the 

 North Head banks at dead low tide, I 

 came across a shallow depression made 

 by the rooting of some fish, and, at the 

 bottom of the hole, were the fragments 

 of a large heart urchin; its spines were 

 still moving, showing that the creature 

 had only ji;st been eaten. Further on I 

 came across pieces of another still mov- 

 ing, and then a third, all very large with 

 long spines. All about the banks were 

 the fragments of the skeletons of big 

 Iieart urchins, showing that the incident 

 was not unusual. I suspected stingrays, 

 but, continuing my Avading (this was in 

 two feet of water), I at length came on 

 the marauders, a big mob of blunt-nosed 

 trevally (Trachimotus ovatus), heads 

 down, tails up, rooting in the sand. So 

 intent were they that I was able to get 

 quite close to them before they decamp- 

 ed. I knew that they fed largelj' on 

 cake urchins, but I did not think they 

 would tackle the sharp poisonous spines 

 of the heart urchins." 



Mr. F. W. Whitehouse, B.Sc, of the 

 University of Queensland, who is pro- 

 ceeding to the University of Cambridge 

 to do post-graduate work in Palaeonto- 

 logy, came to inspect our collection of 

 Cretaceous invertebrates, and Captain G. 

 Pitt Rivers, A.D.C. to the Governor 

 General, made several visits to the 

 Museum to examine the ethnological col- 

 lections. 



The scientific problems of the Pacific 

 are attracting renewed attention, and 

 recently we were glad to be able to give 

 some assistance and advice to Mr. J. R. 

 Baker, of the University of Oxford, who 

 is making a biological survey of the 

 land and fresh-water fai;na of the New 

 Hebrides on behalf of the Percy Sladen 

 Trust, and to Mr. T. T. Barnard, of 

 Cambridge, who intends to do research 

 work in anthropology in the Banks 

 Group. 



Mr. Willi Fels, of Dunedin, a gene- 

 rous supporter of the Museum in his 

 liome town, who is on his way to Eng- 

 land and the continent, spent several 

 days inspecting our ethnological collec- 

 tions, and made arrangements for an 

 exchange of specimens with the Dunedin 

 Museum. 



