THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 157 



chsete worms and polyzoa, and some few tunicates. It is 

 curious to note that all along the western shore there was a 

 marked absence of the alcyonarians present in such quantities 

 on the east coast of the island. 



At Whistler Point the hills come down to the sea, and for the 

 distance of a mile or two the shore is rocky and broken. Kelp 

 is heaped up in great quantities, and forms large, wretchedly 

 stinking masses, perhaps a hundred yards in length, along the 

 shores of the numerous small bays between successive jutting 

 granite promontories. Anyone walking on this has to be very 

 careful not to sink suddenly up to the middle in the decaying 

 vegetable matter, which seems to afford endless enjoyment to 

 the flocks of sooty crow-shrikes which abound in the island. 



On the rocks lay the skeleton of a seal, and in various parts 

 different bones of this animal were met with. Leaving the 

 shore, the track passes over hill country with coarse grass and 

 bracken fern, until the scrub is entered, consisting largely of 

 coast ti-tree. This continues for some distance, good views of 

 the sea out to the west being obtained, with New Year Islands 

 near at hand, until after some four miles the track passes close 

 to the sea-shore. Here on the sand-hills is a luxuriant growth 

 of pig-face. Its bright red flowers, with the light yellow — 

 almost white — sand, and the curious, whitey-blue green of the 

 smoke-bush, gave a strange aspect to the scene. The track 

 first touches the shore again at the mouth of the Pass River, 

 which was, as yet, the only clear-water stream of any size seen 

 on the island. Its mouth is by the side of an outcrop of very 

 coarsely-grained grey granite. In the rocky pools were 

 numerous specimens of chitonellus and some curious planarian 

 worms, an inch or an inch and a half in length, with round bodies 

 one-eighth of'an inch in diameter, marked by alternate bands of 

 green and white. Near this promontory a teal was met, with 

 two young ones. The mother, to distract attention from her 

 young, at once feigned a damaged leg, and made off along the 

 shore, followed by one of our party, whilst the two little ones 

 ran for the water. Being chased the young ones both dived 

 instantly, though the water was not more than a foot deep. It 

 was curious to see this instinct so strongly developed in 

 exceedingly young birds, as they were yet unfledged and covered 

 only with down. They lay perfectly still under the water, and 

 it was difficult to distinguish them from the stones, which they 

 closely resemble in colour. 



All along the coast hooded dottrels, pied and sooty oyster- 

 catchers, silver and Pacific gulls are plentiful, whilst inland, 

 amongst the scrub, perhaps the most plentiful birds are the 

 sooty crow-shrikes and the superb warbler (Malurus gouldij, 

 whose lovely bright blue colour is everywhere to be seen. Near 

 Whistler Point large flocks of wild duck are met with. 



Beyond the Pass River the track lies through a dense growth 



