BE LLCH AMBERS— Notes from Humbug Scrub. 181 



Notes from Humbug Scrub for November, 1917. 



By T. P. Bellchambers. 



Tacliybaptus ruficolUs novaehollandim. Black-throated 

 Grebe. One bird paid occasional visits to the dam. 



Austrottirnix velox. Eastern Little Quail. — Several nests 

 observed, one in the herbs, one in the hay crop, only seen after 

 crop was cut, and contained four eggs. As soon as the cover 

 was cut away the birds constructed a neat cover over the nest. 



Pseudartamus cyavoptcrus. Wood Swallow. — Numerous 

 in the district this season, and considered harmful to the bee 

 industry. I experimented with one of these birds in captivity, 

 and found it refused all worker bees, only eating drones, thus 

 proving beneficial and not harmful to beekeepers, drones 

 always being in excess of requirements. 



A Sketch of the Life of Samuel White — 

 Ornithologist, Soldier, Sailor, and Explorer. 



By His Son, S. A. White, M.B.O.U. 



XVI. THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND SAILOR. 



No great Birds of Paradise came in on Monday, July 26th, 

 but the natives brought along about twenty tlher birds of 

 several species, a cuscus and several rats. My father and 

 both his taxidermists were now suffering very much from the 

 effects of arsenic and arsenate of potash in the skin curative, 

 ''Arsenical soap." My father always prepared his own soap 

 for this purpose, and made it doubly strong. When this pre- 

 paration works down under the linger nails and especially tin; 

 thumb nails, it separates the flesh from the nail, and keeps it 

 in a constant state of festering. Often the irritation reaches 

 three fourths of the distance down the nail, and if the ends 

 of the fingers come in contact with anything hard, it makes 

 one cry out with pain. I have experienced this myself, so it 

 can be understood how the great Naturalist and his assistants 

 suffered when they had to skin and cure hundreds of speci- 

 mens in a week. The weather was showery during the 26th, 

 little if any wind was perceptible. The next morning Cocke- 

 rell was sent out with the gun to see what he could get. One 



