210



Mr. D. Seth-Smith,



But the chorus of music was varied by a sound very unlike

any other bird-sound I had heard, and had I not been rather on

the alert to detect it, I should probably never have recognised it

as the sound emitted by a bird at all. This was the note of the

Coach-whip Bird, a note exactly resembling the crack of a whip.

From the thickest of the scrub the note proceeded at intervals and

I sat still on a tree-stump hoping I might be fortunate enough

to obtain a glimpse of the bird. A lizard emerged apparently

from underneath the tree trunk upon which I sat and basked in

the sun almost at my feet, and as my eyes moved towards him I

noticed a solitary bull-dog or soldier ant on the path and com¬

menced to tease him with the tip of my stick. These ants,

which are about an inch in length, whose bite is as painful as the

sting of a bee or perhaps more so, are very interesting little

creatures. They will not run away from danger but stand up on

their hind legs and face it, and it was most comical to watch the

little soldier fighting the end of my walking stick. Writing of

Bull-dog Ants reminds me of my introduction to these interest¬

ing insects in Western Australia, which I omitted to mention in

my account of my rambles there. Mr. Ernest Le Souef and I

were returning from a long ramble in the Margaret River district

when we noticed the stump of a “ black-boy” (the settlers’ name

for the grass-tree) which had been hollowed out by decay and

filled in with earth by some insect. “An Ants’ nest” remarked

my companion, and gave it a sound kick, sending the rotten

Stump and its contents flying. We considered it advisable to fly

also, for the stump had been converted into a nest of the venomous

Bull-dog ant, some hundreds of which now lay scattered in all

directions thirsting to attack the enemy who had attacked them.

But to return to Fern-tree Gully.


While quietly engaged in playing with the insect at the

safe distance of the length of a walking-stick, my attention was

arrested by a rustling among the dry leaves in the thicket close

by. The disturbance might have been caused by an English

Blackbird as it flung the brittle leaves away in search of worms.

I watched intently, and presently a fine Coach-whip Bird

(Psophodes crepitans ) appeared in full view as he hopped about in

search of an early meal. A handsome bird is this, black of hue,



