Australian Natural History. 1429 



young, which forsook the parent's protection and covered the ground. 

 The poor spider was on this desertion quite motionless, apparently 

 quite bewildered and heart-broken for the loss of her beloved family. 

 I waited sometime but did not observe her collect a single young one. 



We cannot without great trouble keep specimens in this country ; 

 they are so subject to a hairy grub, which finally turns to a small 

 black-beetle, similar to those found in ham and bacon. I never ob- 

 served before, but it strikes me as particularly curious, how many of 

 our smaller birds are furnished with the brush tongue, and how well 

 adapted it is to their habits : flitting about the blossoms they effectu- 

 ally extract the honey on which alone they seem to feed. 



We have a pest in this country of the Tick kind ; it entirely fre- 

 quents thick, scrubby country, and is most annoying and fatal, if not 

 discovered. It is, therefore, essential to look well over your dog's 

 coat after you have been shooting in these brushes, otherwise you may 

 lose him, for this tick has the power to destroy life. The symptoms 

 in the dog are first excessive drowsiness, and as the insect sucks, 

 weakness of the loins and spine, and finally death. In man, as 

 I know, it is sufficiently disagreeable, though of course, seldom 

 or never fatal. Its relations of several kinds I have seen in India, 

 but they are harmless, though many dogs were glad to be relieved 

 from them. It attacks calves, foals, and everything else, and gene- 

 rally contrives (how wonderful !) to fasten on some part of the body 

 the animal is not able to get at. 



Another curious incident occurred to me some time ago on the 

 Manning River. I was on a visit to G. R., and his farm was girded by 

 dense bushes ; into them I went with my gun ; the ground was seve- 

 ral inches deep in decaying leaves and rotten wood. It had been and 

 was very rainy weather, and no sooner w r as I under the shade of a 

 bush than I was assailed at every step by Leeches, which made for 

 my boots as fast as possible ; I did not mind them at first, till some 

 sticking on my ancles and legs warned me to be off. They were very 

 numerous, of a light brown colour, with bright orange stripes from 

 head to tail on the sides. The weather afterwards became dry ; I 

 went into the brushes again and not one was to be seen. There was 

 not a cupful of standing water in the brush, though it was skirted by 

 the river. I have never met with them since, probably from not go- 

 ing out in rainy weather when at home. On the Manning I was in a 

 strange country, and was constantly out. 



Through the spring and summer I nightly hear the coo-koo of the 

 Podargus Stanleyana. I have never shot one or noticed them on the 



