88 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



EXCURSION TO CHELTENHAM. 



The first outing on the new annual list of excursions of the Field 

 Naturalists' Club took place on Saturday, 19th August, the place 

 chosen being Cheltenham, a township about twelve miles south 

 of Melbourne, on the Mordialloc and Frankston railway. The 

 day was fairly fine, but windy. The first to put in an appearance 

 at Prince's Bridge station was the leader, Mr. C. French, sen.,, 

 who was shortly after joined by Mr. Best. The platform, owing 

 to a race meeting at Caulfield, was densely crowded with people,, 

 and as we could not detect any of our members in the crowd, 

 we were afraid that the threatening weather had prevented them 

 from turning up. We (Mr. Best and myself), however, resolved to 

 go on and do a little hunting on our own account, but on arrival 

 at Cheltenham were very pleased to see a goodly muster of 

 members — fourteen in number, including our president and four 

 ladies. The route chosen was through the local cemetery, and 

 in this secluded and pretty spot we found many specimens of the 

 nevv and singular coccids, Cylindiroccus casuarince and Lecanium 

 Frenchii, these having been found by myself for the first time, and 

 described by Mr. Maskell, of New Zealand. Steering our course 

 westward over the sandy hills, we came across the pretty little 

 plants Hovea heterophylla and Euphrasia Brownii, both of which 

 in the early days were very common in these parts, but are now 

 becoming somewhat scarce. Arriving at the "Old Springs" our 

 " pond life " people set to work with a will. (A brief account of 

 what they did on the occasion has kindly been forwarded to me 

 by Mr. Shephard, and is appended to this report.) The so-called 

 " Old Springs " was once a charming little spot, the banks being 

 thickly clothed with small plants of that elegant fern Gleichenia 

 circinata, commonly known as the Coral Fern. The place is now 

 changed, and the once clear hole of water has been fenced, a 

 pump erected, without (it appeared to us) a due regard for the 

 health and welfare of the good people of Cheltenham, whose 

 supply of water is mostly derived from this source. In 1853-4. 

 this water was beautifully clear and wholesome ; but, now that 

 the fence is broken down, dogs and other domestic animals 

 can bathe in this spring with impunity. Pushing on towards 

 Sandringham we pass several well-known spots, reminding one, 

 at least, of the party of pleasant times in the early fifties. The 

 lovely Epacris, together with Styphelia, Sprengelia, &c., were at 

 their best. The strong perfume from Acacia suaveolens was 

 noticeable in many places where we passed through. Larvae 

 seemed scarce, but several were taken, and on the stem of a com- 

 mon " bog-shrub," Viminaria denudata, a fine male specimen of 

 the beautiful moth Danima banJcsia was found clinging. This 

 is, I think, an unusual place to find the perfect insect, although 

 the larvae are common enough on small plants of Banksiof 



