THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 35 



NOTES ON THE ZOOLOGY OF LAKE ALBACUTYA 

 DISTRICT. 



By C. French, F.L.S. 



{Read before Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, iithfune, i888.y 



You will, doubtless, remember my promise to read, when there 

 was a scarcity of papers, a few notes on the fauna of this part 

 of the Wimmera district, and I much regret the circum- 

 stance of my having to redeem my promise sooner than I 

 anticipated. 



I must here remark that I left Melbourne totally unprepared, 

 and without any appliances whatever for collecting zoological 

 specimens, having determined to do what I could, during the 

 limited time at my disposal, towards the collecting of the plants 

 of the district, and which, as I have previously stated, was the 

 sole object of my visit, and thus it happens that these notes are 

 necessarily very fragmentary and imperfect. 



At a casual glance in passing through the mallee on the 

 Toad up from Dimboola, I could not help noticing the apparent 

 scarcity of birds, particularly the smaller kinds ; but on alight- 

 ing from the buggy, and proceeding on foot but a short dis- 

 tance into the mallee scrub, I soon saw that I was mistaken, as 

 many curious forms were not at all uncommon, though in some 

 cases unknown to those who have been accustomed to collect 

 only in the districts near Melbourne. 



The first old favourite noticed was the well-known rose-hill, 

 or rosella parrakeet ( Platycerciis eximiusj, which were here in 

 numbers. The gigantic kingfisher (laughing jackass, if you 

 like) (Dacelo gigasj were also plentiful enough ; whilst the 

 wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) was to be seen hovering 

 around, waiting, I suspect, Micawber-like, for anything to turn 

 up. Whilst on the subject of eagles, I may remark that these 

 fine birds are highly spoken of as destroyers of rabbits ; but, on 

 the other hand, they have a very great liking for young lambs, 

 and I noticed that they (the eagles) are always considered fair 

 game for a "pot shot" whenever occasion offers, and thus 

 their numbers have been greatly reduced. 



Lizards of various sizes and colour seem common about here, 

 and, if time permitted, a very good collection of these animals 

 could be got together in this district. 



Regarding ants, this country would be a perfect paradise for 

 an observer of the Sir J. Lubbock type (unfortunately very rare), 

 as there are, I dare say, 50 or 60 species to be found within an 

 ■easy walk from Dimboola, and I have reason to believe from 

 what little I saw that many of these little insects are either 

 Jnew, or as yet unpublished, species. 



