188 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



bourne, we were met by Mr. C. Walter, an old friend of one 

 the leaders of the party, who had kindly come across from 

 Warrandyte, some six miles, to welcome us. 



The walk from Ringwood to Warrandyte is, upon the whole^ 

 most picturesque, and although the Leptospermum bushes were 

 fairly well in bloom, little but the commonest kinds of beetles- 

 were to be found, although the bushes were shaken in that 

 energetic style peculiar to the insect-loving portion of our members. 

 Just before reaching Warrandyte some very pretty views are ta 

 be obtained, and the miners at work reminded one of the old 

 gold-digging days. The river, in something like its original 

 purity, rushes between boulders and over stones down to the 

 bridge, from which a fine view of the surrounding hills may be 

 obtained. All along the river banks grows quite a thicket of 

 that elegant little myrtaceous plant Kunzea peduncularis, but,, 

 although in full flower, comparatively few insects could be ob- 

 tained from it, the best found being Distichocera par, some 

 Cleridse, and other ordinary beetles. 



The afternoon was spent in a somewhat lazy manner, as the 

 scorching heat of the sun rendered it somewhat difficult to capture 

 the insects, as they were most wonderfully active. As it became 

 cooler we sallied out in force, and on the whole, as our list will 

 show, did fairly well. On the following morning we made an 

 early start for the " Pound Bend," quite a romantic spot, with 

 precipitous hills rising abruptly from the river, which here, as in 

 many other places, is most circuitous in its course. On these 

 steep banks many good plants were obtained by Messrs. Tisdall 

 and Walter, the two botanists of the party ; whilst the entomolo- 

 gists did fairly well, principally by shaking the trees and loose 

 bark into expanded umbrellas. It was here that one of the party 

 took two specimens of a somewhat rare Buprestid, Anthaxia, also- 

 a pretty little Longicorn, Omophcena taniata, with Carabs, Cleridse, 

 &c., &c. It was fortunate we had been early astir, as just before 

 noon the rain began to descend, and caused us to make a hasty- 

 return to our quarters. 



As a full list of our captures would be much too long for the 

 limited space available in our journal, we will content ourselves 

 by stating that the plants collected were between 50 and 60- 

 species, amongst the best being Pomaderris subrepanda, Cryp- 

 tandra Hookeri, and Geranium pilosum. 



Birds appeared to be scarce, although the ordinary kinds, as 

 Crow Shrikes, Giant Kingfisher, Robins, &c., were seen ; but there 

 are rare birds in this district, as only a few years since a fine 

 specimen of the Dollar Bird, Eurystomus pacificus, was taken a 

 few miles up the river from the township. 



No snakes were seen, nor had we a chance, owing to the rain, 

 to visit a place where many lizards are said to frequent. These 



