T48 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



TRIP TO QUEENSLAND. 



By Dudley Le Souef. 



(Read hcfore the Field Naturalists^ Club of Victoria, x^th 

 December, iSgi.y 



I LEFT Melbourne by train for Toowoomba, Queensland, via 

 Sydney, on the igth October, the object of my visit being to 

 collect specimens of the fauna of that portion of Australia for the 

 .Zoological Gardens of this city. In the neighbourhood of 

 Brisbane, Rockhampton, Townsville, and other places on the 

 north-eastern coast, there are many interesting examples of the 

 native animals only obtainable in those localities. While having 

 • this object principally in view, I was also anxious to obtain as 

 many specimens of insect life as possible. I need not describe 

 more than a few incidents on the journey up ; the scenery for the 

 most part being very monotonous. On coming to the Darling 

 Downs, we passed through country with dark volcanic soil, far 

 famed for its fertility. The Darling Pea flourishes here, and 

 some of the land looked very pretty with its purple carpet ; but 

 in dry weather, when grass is short, the stock frequently take to 

 it as food, and the effect on the beast is first noticed by a dis- 

 position to shun others of its kind. It gets what is popularly 

 known as "the staggers," and, rejecting all food except the pea, 

 •eats it greedily till it dies. The stock, however, do not seem to 

 suffer much from it as long as there is plenty of other food 

 obtainable. 



I arrived at Toowoomba on Wednesday evening, and next 

 morning obtained some beetles, earth and planarian worms, but 

 had very little time for collecting, as I had to visit a neighbouring 

 station. The country was dry, and, excepting a Brown Snake 

 ( Diemenia super ciliosa), I obtained nothing of importance. The 

 Fairy Martins ( Layenoplastes ariel) are very numerous here and 

 build in colonies under the bridges and other suitable places, and 

 their curious, retort-like nests were very interesting. The nests of 

 the White Ants are very plentiful, being generally small mounds 

 about three feet high ; most of them have a good-sized hole in 

 them, which the Echidna evidently makes when in search of the 

 unfortunate ants as food. A few days before I arrived an Echidna 

 was found in a belt of Brigalow scrub (Acacia harpofliylla), with 

 a dead Carpet Snake wound round it and well fixed on the spines. 

 It Avas evidently a case of the " biter bit," as the snake had 

 probably tried to crush its victim, but had got pierced by the 

 spines in its attempt to do so and there died. The Echidna was 

 apparently unhurt, and walked about with its uncanny load 

 without much trouble. Hares are also very plentiful, this heavily- 

 grassed land just suiting them. Native Bears are numerous, and 



