THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



303 



and, more rarely, of war and its after- 

 math. 



You have read "The Beachcomber's" 

 books, and need no detailed description 

 of his island. I give yon only a visitor's 

 im])ressions, with glimpses of wild 

 things seen around the bungalow and 

 farther afield. 



For two days the rain continued ; 

 then came a clear, calm day for "ex- 

 ploring." But, for a while, I was con- 

 tent to observe near home, to loiter 

 in the garden, and ramble through 

 half-tamed country a little beyond, 

 with, for variety's sake, a stroll along 

 the beach in search of shells. 



GARDEN ACQUAINTANCE. 



A tropic garden never fails to yield 

 spoil to the naturalist ; nowhere have 

 I found a richer " field " than that about 

 Dunk Island bungalow. When, on the 

 first morning, I surveyed the little rain- 

 drenched world from shelter, un- 

 familiar scents and sounds crowded to 

 greet me, and I saw birds and blossoms 

 that were old acquaintances, because 

 they seemed to come straight from the 

 pages of my good friend's books. He 

 has described them so faithfully, you 

 see, and with the perfect understanding 

 of the true naturalist. 



A coucal {Centropus phasianus)~i{ew 

 heavily from the grass into a small 

 tree, shaking rain drops from leaf and 

 bough as it alighted. It saw me, not 

 three yards away, but showed no sign 

 of fear. Soon it commenced to utter 

 the mellow " Glooc ! glooc ! " notes, 

 like the gurgle of cream from a bottle, 

 as " The Beachcomber" has said. Later 

 I heard the resonant " Toom ! toom ! 

 toom ! toom ! " and some other notes. 

 For the swamp pheasant is a gifted 

 vocaUst, though most of us are familiar 

 chiefly with its " glooc ! glooc ! " call. 

 Every day, on the isle, I heard the 

 coucal's voice ; and once, near the 

 bungalow, I came upon one so busy 

 in the high grass that it failed to rise 

 until I was barely a yard away. Mr. 

 Banfield befriended all the wild birds 

 of his demesne, and even a stranger 

 shared a Uttle in the confidence that liis 



kindness had won from the coucal and 

 some other s])ecies. 



Honeyeaters were calling in the rain, 

 and I heard the notes of an unseen 

 dove — the barred-shouldered species^ — 

 {Geopelia hurneralis), which tried my 

 patience as a |)hotographer, at a nest 

 on Masthead Island, long ago. Fruit- 

 pigeons, too, were calling, in trees 

 beyond the garden fence ; and perha))s 

 the friendly little green Chalcophaps 

 was pecking on the ground beneath the 

 boughs. 



SPLENDID BUTTERFLIES. 



Though the weather " lifted," 1 still 

 found it profitable to remain near home ; 

 the garden lured so many birds, and a 

 host of butterflies. Nowhere, exce|)t 

 on a spring day's journey from Jerusa- 

 lem to Bethlehem, have I seen such 

 troops of s])lendid butterflies. Over 

 the crimson Hibiscus flowers, swallow- 

 tails [Papilio ulysses) and '* bird- wings" 

 {Troides priamus) hovered or soared 

 on widespread, shining pinions. There 

 were scores of these glorious insects 

 about the Hibiscus hedge, and all 

 other flowering plants in the garden 

 had their wooers too. I noted nearly 

 twenty species, and not a cUngy-colored 

 " fly " among them. Some were 

 smaller than the common " painted 

 lad}' " {Pyrameis cardui), but rivalled 

 in brilHant coloring the huge papiHos. 



On an orange tree near the window 

 from which, each day, I saw the mists 

 of the morning rise, both caterpillars 

 and pupae of a swallowtail were found. 

 These larvae were protectively colored ; 

 but compared with those of another 

 species (not identified), they were bold 

 advertisers of their presence. The 

 unknown caterpillar, viewed from a 

 distance of barely a yard, resembled 

 one of the grey-browii leaves on which 

 it had been feeding — a leaf nibbled 

 curiously on one side of the mid-vein, 

 and hanging "face on." 



In the garden also were many strange 

 insects ; a mantis which, facing one, 

 tried to mimic a tiny pink and green 

 flower ; and, on the under surface of 

 broad Macaranga leaves, gem-Uke bugs, 

 all emerald green, camouflaged as 



