﻿180 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



dense parts of the scrub, and the close heat made forcing our 

 way through very tiring work. 



On our way we flushed some " Wonga-wonga " pigeons, and 

 presently put up a pair of green -winged pigeons (Chalcophaps 

 chrysochlora), and a little further on some wallaby (a small species 

 of kangaroo which only lives in the scrubs), were sitting up viewing 

 us very suspiciously. The boys began regretting leaving their 

 guns at home, and I had to remind them that we were looking for 

 insects, not birds or animals. 



Having found a likely tree, the next question was how to get 

 at ajax, which would be found feeding on the topmost leaves. 

 This was speedily solved by the boys taking off their boots, and 

 with a tomahawk cutting notches in the bark, by which they 

 easily ascended the butt of the tree, black-fellow fashion, hauling 

 up the net afterwards and proceeding to business. When seen on 

 the leaf, the net is gently placed underneath ; a slight upward 

 movement and the beetle drops quietly in, and is then transferred 

 to a small box, each being kept separate on account of a yellow 

 pollen matter covering the wings, which if rubbed off takes away 

 a great deal of the beauty of the insect. After getting some two 

 dozen, and the sun reminding it was time to look after the inner 

 man, we made for a water-hole, where we proceeded to eat our 

 lunch and discuss the probability of finding C. superba on our 

 way home. Finishing our repast, we endeavoured to pass half 

 an hour away in resting, not, as my readers may suppose, 

 enjoying the " Dolce far niente " in the tropical shade, but trying 

 to imagine we were getting a little cooler by keeping quiet, the 

 perspiration meanwhile standing out in beads on our faces and 

 hands, and a few mosquitoes gently intimating that it was not the 

 time to sleep, — so to work again and forward. Not far off, a tree 

 commonly called a " mess-mate " appeared in full bloom, the 

 flowers, in clusters, much resembling those of the Eucalyptus. 

 This was a prize, for here was the haunt of the flower-loving 

 Buprestidse. The tree was soon scaled, and an exclamation of 

 delight escaped one of the boys as he extracted from his net a 

 large lovely Stigmodera (since found to be new), closely resembling 

 S. similis, about an inch and a half in length, straw-coloured, 

 with lower part of elytra and thorax metallic -blue. This was the 

 great find of the day. Five specimens were taken, besides some 

 seven other species of Stigmodera, all small and mostly known to 

 us, besides a host of smaller beetles, but no Lepidoptera, which 

 was rather surprising considering the apparently favourable 

 season. Pretty well satisfied so far, and the day wearing on, we 

 retraced our steps, making for a patch of " lance-wood " that lay 

 on our way home. Soon after reaching this patch a large 

 C. superba was espied walking down a tree (a peculiarity they 

 have), a splendid fellow ! the golden green lines glistening in the 



