June 

 J a: 



"* r J NnhnalUi* Ntttclntok 



BLACKBIRDS/ TROUBLES 



Seeing sunie grey bird* fly imp a garden tree 1 went onl to see what they 

 wore; ihere was a gre»* deal of frilling and rtiuteong about in Ihe tree 

 xt\t\ as usual (he Rdl Miners were objecting to strangers. T watched the 

 dnnule, and a neighbour, who is inirresi^d til birds, joined me. I walked 

 back With her ami was away for ahcut leu rmnutes. When I returned, a 

 m^^pie was on the Liwn oear the Uec and was snaking savagely at scniifth>n» 

 struggling J rflzi over and drove the Mfitgpae off. The *' something'' was a 

 nearli fulf> feathered young blaekbrrd. i tried to revive it. kept rt warm, 

 eir . but u died ihcjlly after What seemed to me unusual was for a inagfri? 

 to attack and kill 3 young bird T$ this usual r TJ^cfe was a ftirthtr incident. 

 The oi»|> other youne; bird in the nest, which we have had uurlei observation 

 for both this hrood 3imJ a former one, struggled out of the nest and frll ot 

 fluttered in- the ground- Fortunately, my Utile grandson Bind I Smw tl»i> ha|M,»en 

 ami restored the bird to the nest The mother bird returned at 7 pnv and all 

 •vn-med well, bm both mother and baby were gone next morning. 1 Mtp(*ost 

 that nestlings, when frightened (as by the fvjht in the trot), sometimes 

 »_hinb niii of the dfct. I have sometimes lound de*d nestlings in tlir gardnt 

 But 1 dul not lotow thai magpies killed other birds. And where and how 

 did the mother blackbird remove ihe nestling r 



— P'SA^CE?, b'Sl-MlSftN, Vermont. 



OUTSTANDING NATIVE 6AR0CN PLANTS 



As everyone 1m*s his uwxi special lavowjtes. it is not liUeW that Ihe 

 iwcnty native plants for the garden* wlurh ate- listed below, will meet Willi 

 everyone's approval. Fi you agree- thai ten at the plants should have been 

 iiM-lwied, then fierliApt the li.st can '>c regarded a.j a gOg<| one; if yotf Col- 

 lider th.it fifteen of them should be wi Ihe list, then yon must have a sanden 

 in ihe sand are* with the same climatic conditions as the writer. «ud you 

 muct have nmilar tastes, too. 



Before £miig ai>> further, perhaps we can agree that a really 01 mandim: 

 garden |daiu twist have spectacular flowers borne during a long flowering 

 season, foliage ami sba)>r-lmess which givr a pleusing apy»earaiiee throngl*- 

 ont the year, and yet U can be propagated readily. ftTows fairly tfuickly, and 

 is hardy enough Id stand up to conditions ill the garden withcim, Afty $pccia( 

 attention ! NecdJrss to say there are not many kucIi plants, so wc must 

 seleet those thai come nearest lo thi-s ideal. 



The difficulties associated with making a U&t of outstanding garden flkntfs 

 niay be ijlustralcd by reCcrx^iig 10 the bo-f^nws No jdaut b^s. moi't* delightful 

 jiei£uiue than tlte Scented Uoronta (11. ttwya^tttjti'M), hut many conditions 

 do not suit i» : the N.SAV. speoes "Native Ko. u e' {B. sCrrnUita), Svr)ti«y 

 Bon>nia (/.?, !i\iifotni) and Pale Horonin (B, fl-irilntmia) are all beautiful; 

 whtk Pink Boionia \£, mv?Unl) t Pintiaie Bftrtftiq (/? pvamtn) and H?iiry 

 BornnU i /? piloxa) are £oori Victorian species. 



Nor can the Tall Boixmia fff. clatter) «r 5. deniiiuliitu, Iwith frum Vv\A , 

 he overlooked, but my preference is for a third western species KalRsm 

 Horonia (B, hctvrtrphytttj), beCJiUic it 1^ not difficult to pfOflafiaW Of oul- 

 tivaie., it is fiiiapely, and has beautiful blossom tlu/uig a fairly long flowering 

 )>ei lud. 



!Ieri» is the list: Common Botllc-brush {CatlistemoH spectoxtts), Puik 

 Hybrid Thryptomcne (a'T. T. mvicoln) , Koug-leaf Wax-flower (finvsft't'ton 

 ittvopcrmdrs-), Kalian Boron ia (/?. hrtrrnfthvlfo), GungWTU f P.ura*vl>hts 

 caesia), Conimon Correa (C. rcffc.ro), Scarlet Honey -myrtle (Mctalett'ti 

 ftiUjsus), Pink Grevillca (Gmvilfsa .wuc.ti), Mud^ee Wattle (Acacia ^pcrto- 

 bitis), Grass-leal Haktci {H vtvUihm'olQ) , HeiUh-lenvcd B-^iksia <&. 

 cfinjo!in) ) Gravel Uotile-brush ( In-auforhn spitrsa), Swan River Myrtle 

 ( Hypt>C(}tyw7tw robustum), Grooved Dampiera (D fcjrpnUittt\, Conimon 



