90 VICTORIA EIPLE-BIRD. 



rich Caladiwm macrorhizon grows greg-ariously in 

 shady places, and Hellenia coerulea on their mar- 

 gins, — and among- stones and sometimes on trees, 

 tufts of Grammitis Australia spread out their larg-e 

 and handsome undivided fronds. 



Two species of rat occur here — one is the larg-e 

 bandicoot of India, Mus giganteus, doubtless 

 introduced by some wrecked vessel, the other is 

 the pretty httle Mus Indicus, found on all the 

 islands of the north-east coast and Torres Strait. 

 Among the birds, we found numbers of the Mega- 

 podius, always a welcome addition to our biU of 

 fare ; but our greatest prize was a new and splendid 

 rifle-bird, which Mr. Gould has since described 

 from my specimens and named Ptiloris VictoricB, 

 as a mark of respect and gratitude for the patronage 

 bestowed upon his great work on the Birds of 

 Australia, in the forthcoming supplement to which 

 it will be figured along with some other novelties of 

 the Voyage of the Rattlesnake. 



Before taking leave of the natural history of the 

 Barnard Group, I must not omit a pretty butterfly 

 inhabiting the densest parts of the brush ; it is the 

 Hamadryas Zoilus of the Voyage of the Astrolabe, 

 erroneously supposed in that work to be a native of 

 New Zealand. 



One da}' I crossed over to the mainland in a boat 

 sent for the purpose of examining a small river 

 seen there to open upon a long sandy beach. We 

 found a depth of four feet on the bar at low water. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



