164 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Townsville and there changed into a larger steamer and proceeded 

 in her to Brisbane. While in that town I passed a fruit shop on 

 Sunday morning in the main street, and saw just inside the window 

 a large rat busily occupied in catching flies, which were numerous. 

 He was not in the least frightened at the half-dozen people 

 and a dog looking at him, and seemed to know he was quite safe 

 behind the glass. The dog had its nose up against the window, 

 but the rat, although passing close to it, took no notice. Later 

 on during the day I passed the same shop, and again saw the 

 rat sitting quietly close to the glass and looking perfectly satisfied. 

 I saw no flies either, so presumed he had eaten them all. I wish 

 other rats would develop the same taste. 



, When I left Melbourne the Pallid Cuckoo was very numerous 

 all over Victoria, and wherever I stopped on my Journey north 

 one of the first birds I heard was the same cuckoo ; thus it 

 appears equally numerous in Victoria, New South Wales, and in 

 parts of Queensland, even as far north as Townsville. While in 

 Queensland I made inquiries from Mr. Barnard and others 

 respecting the sounds made by the Podargus and Boobook Owl, 

 and, from what I can gather, the Podargus generally makes a 

 low hooting kind of sound ; but Mr, C. Barnard once heard one 

 utter a long drawn-out note which sounded something like 

 " Morepork." The bird was close enough to him to enable him 

 to identify it, but the sound was quite different from the quicker 

 cry of the Boobook Owl, which is so often mistaken for the 

 Podargus. Personally, I have never heard the latter bird utter 

 any sound except the hooting before referred to, although we. have 

 had them in captivity for years, 



Specimens of most of the things collected during my trip are 

 on exhibition here this evening, including the nest and egg of the 

 Victoria Rifle Bird. 



NOTE ON ANTHOLOMA. 



By Baron von Mueli-er, K.C.M.G., M. & Ph.D., F.R.S. 



While elaborating diagnoses of new Papuan plants, I was 

 pleasingly surprised to find among the novelties an Antholoma, 

 which genus was hitherto supposed to be restricted to New 

 Caledonia. The Papuan species is dedicated to Professor van 

 Tieghem, the renowned Phyto-Anatomist of the Paris-University. 

 The denticulation ot the leaves, the elongation of the setule of 

 the anthers and the three-celled ovulary already separate A. 

 Tieghemi from A. montanum. Among the novelties are also 

 Oxalis (Biophytum) albijlora, Sloanea Forbesii, which approaches 

 S. quaclrivalvis in many respects, but is petaliferous, and Quin- 

 tinia Macgregori as particularly remarkable. 

 December, 18.91. 



