192 THE TICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXIII. 



Still about 40 species were noted, and their chief cha- 

 racteristics explained. On entering the tea-tree, we 

 found the well-known striated acanthiza hopping amongst 

 the foliage in quest of spiders, &c. Surprise was ex- 

 pressed at so small a bird being selected by the fantail 

 cuckoo as foster parent for its young. Then a number 

 of superb warblers or blue wrens were seen, searching 

 for their food near the roadside. Whenever two adult 

 males came in contact, a battle followed, but the females 

 and young were quite sociable. White-shafted flycatchers 

 were particularly numerous, and their fearless method of 

 fluttering around us in pursuit of flies proved most inte- 

 resting. Several spine-billed honey-eaters displaved their 

 agilitv amongst the blossom of the mistletoe. As many 

 bunches of this plant were passed, it was explained how it 

 is distributed bv the aid of birds, which swallow the fruit 

 whole and then drop the undigested seed on the bark of 

 a. fresh tree, where it adheres and germinates. A grey 

 minah soon espied one member of the party carrving a 

 gun, in order to shoot a few birds for the evening lesson 

 in taxidermy. It gave its usual warning note, and then 

 flew away. At the creek, a yellow-breasted robin's nest 

 was found, with two young ones crouching in the bottom. 

 Whilst they were being examined, the parent birds, with 

 grubs or moths in their bills, came near, and, instead of 

 perching on a convenient branch, secured a foothold on 

 the rough bark of an adjacent tree. As lizards were nu- 

 merous, we were not surprised at the melancholy dullness 

 of a laughing jackass which had apparently eaten enough 

 at one meal to suflBce for two. As some of the trees were 

 in blossom, honey-eaters were numerous, and, within a 

 short distance, the white-plumed, New Holland, yellow- 

 faced, lunulated, and spine-billed species were noted. In 

 returning to camp, a bronzewing pigeon was disturbed 

 from its evening meal of tea-tree seed, of which it is verv 

 fond. A general conversation on the anatomy of the 

 various orders of birds took place, and attention was called 

 to the fact that, whilst the pigeon and other seed-eating 

 birds are furnished with a sack-like crop, in which to 

 soften their food before it passes into the stomach to be 

 digested, the strictly insectivorous birds have a straight 

 gullet, down which the food immediately passes into the 

 stomach. Owing to the large amount of moisture which 

 the insects contain, the latter species can live with a limited 

 water supply, whilst the seed-eater drinks often.. 



