THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 99 



assert that such is not by any means the case ; indeed I will 

 venture to say that there is not another city in the world with the 

 same population that can ofifer greater attractions to the naturalist 

 within its suburban radius. 



A few miles by rail in any direction around Melbourne will 

 take us into fairly open country, where every branch of natural 

 history may be studied to a greater or less extent. What one 

 finds may not be always new, but the true naturalist does not seek 

 ever for the new, for by so doing he would pass much that would 

 be of infinite interest and of inestimable value. He sees beauty 

 in all of Nature's works, and through it all recognizes the bountiful 

 hand of the Great Creator. 'Tis only so that we may rise to 

 higher grade than that of the mere collector of specimens. 



As my own interest is more particularly centred in Ornithology, 

 this short paper will naturally touch principally upon that subject, 

 but at the same time I feel confident that it will apply to a very 

 great extent to all branches of natural history. 



As a general rule our native birds do not take at all kindly to 

 civilization in its more advanced forms. Where houses thickly 

 cluster we hear no more the peaceful warblings of the wren or the 

 gay carolling of the magpie ; in their place the lively chirruping of 

 the sparrow and the loud whistle of the Indian minah, offer us 

 slight, but, alas ! very slight, compensation. But still there are 

 many places within easy reach where numbers of our feathered 

 friends are yet to be found. 



Although the swamps which used to lie on each side of the 

 Yarra, between the city and the sea, with their teeming myriads 

 of wild fowl, from the gluttonous Pelican to the tiny Grebe, are 

 now but a memory of the past, the lower Yarra, with its few 

 remaining swamps and sedges, affords some attraction to the 

 ornithologist. 



The Pacific Gull may still be seen flying up and down the 

 stream, and the pretty Silver Gull keeps him company in goodly 

 numbers. The cormorants, who in days of yore perched, like 

 sentinels, on stump and overhanging bough, now take possession 

 of the many piles and beacons which mark the channel's course. 

 A solitary Musk Duck is occasionally seen in the reaches of the 

 river, but he does not feel " at home," and scuttles away 

 affrighted from the many passing steamers ; his days here are 

 numbered, and soon he will be thought of as are the swans, and 

 geese, and ducks of days gone by. 



Although the larger hawks are not now to be found here, the 

 pretty Nankeen Kestrel can often be noticed skimming on 

 graceful wing over the flats, or flying high in air, screaming as it 

 were in anger at some steamboat's whistle or other uncongenial 

 sound. 



The Little Grass Bird frequents those grassy flats which are 



