BY J, H, MAIDEN. 555 



"Balyan" (? Typha angustifoliaj. 



" The principal food of the inhabitants of the Kalaire or Lachlan 

 appeared to be "balyan," the rhizome of a monocotyledonous 

 plant or bulrush growing amongst the reeds. It contains so 

 much gluten, that one of our party, Charles Webb, made, in a 

 short time, some excellent cakes of it ; and they seemed to me 

 lighter and sweeter than those prepared from common flour. 

 The natives gather the roots and carry them on their heads in 



great bundles, within a piece of net And indeed 



this was obviously their chief food among the marshes " (Mitchell, 

 Three Expeditions, ii., 61). 



APPENDIX. 



Anoplognathus cereus (See Eucalyptus corymbosa). 



I cannot, up to the present, trace any account of this species of 

 A7ioplognathus. 



Cicada moerens — The " Great black or Manna Cicada." 

 In the Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria, by Prof. McCoy, 

 Decade V., Plate 50, will be found admirable drawings of this 

 insect, and also a full account of its life-history. From this 

 source the few particulars following are taken : — 



The young resemble fleas in size and shape ; they quickly 

 rqach the ground, into which they burrow, and whence they 

 may be dug out at the i-oots of trees any time during the larval 

 and pupa states. Tbe larva is white, and seems to feed on 

 underground roots ; the eyes, six legs, and antennae agreeing with 

 the pupa, which chiefly differs in having the rudimentary wings 

 visible at the sides of the body. The pupae ultimately come out 

 of the ground, crawl up a few feet on the trunk of the nearest 

 gum-tree in the night, and then, splitting along the back, the 

 surprisingly larger, winged, perfect insect creeps out, leaving the 

 empty pupa skin clinging to the tree quite perfect, even to the 



