42 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



weaker than I had been accustomed to hear, I turned out of bed 

 to try and interview this nocturnal visitor, but the bird flew away 

 before I got near to it. From what I could see, it seemed a 

 smaller species than our common one. I am not aware whether 

 a smaller species has been found here, but perhaps someone 

 present this evening can enlighten us upon this subject. 



Frogs, as a rule, were not plentiful. I saw but one green one, 

 about half the size of the " well-to-do old gentleman" who- 

 " does" the musical honours in the swamp near the new Prince's 

 Bridge. A whitish species of the tree frog ( Hyliis ?) and a small, 

 grizzly-coloured and unhappy-looking toad will complete, so far as. 

 I saw, the " frog fauna ' of Albacutya district. 



These parts are rich in centipedes. Some of those seen were 

 quite formidable-looking fellows, of bluish green colour, with 

 very strong mandibles ; one of these, which I killed, measuring 

 nearly six inches in length. 



I did not see any scorpions, although I should think that in 

 such a dry country they are plentiful enough. 



I noticed that many of the Eucalypti had their tops very much 

 eaten by insects, and I found that, as in our portion of the 

 colony, this destruction had been the work of the larvae of 

 a saw-fly, an hymenopterus insect of the genus Perga. These 

 larvse, which are horrible, black, ugly-looking caterpillars, you 

 will have noticed on the gum saplings around Melbourne, and 

 when touched with a stick the whole cluster writhe about, and 

 emit a green juice, which the larvre has extracted from the tree. 

 There are a good many species of this genus in Victoria, all of 

 which are more or less destructive. 



A pair, (male and female) of the handsome sheldrake (Casarca 

 tador?ioidesJ paid regular visits to the dam, which was close to 

 the homestead. They were very tame, and evidently considered 

 themselves under the protection of Mr. Scott and his people. 



I cannot close my remarks on the zoology of this district with- 

 out mentioning the very novel and pretty team of six sheep 

 which the two little girls of Mr. Scott had yoked up, with proper 

 yokes and bows; and the " team" used to draw logs, etc. It was 

 to me quite a unique " turn-out," and could not fail to cause 

 some considerable amusement to those who visited the station. 



I have thus endeavoured to mention a few of the most promi- 

 nent of the many natural history treasures to be found in this 

 comparatively little-travelled part of Victoria. I hope some day 

 to make a more extended trip to these parts, when I may have 

 something of interest to show you, but should I again revisit the 

 scenes of my former exploits I shall sadly miss the assistance 

 and advice of the former kind and hospitable proprietors of Lake- 

 Albacutya Station, who have since left the mallee, its pleasures^ 

 and its inconveniences. 



