Pleasant Creek diggings I Maxell ) , 



I mm dcstiticlion in 1 H(i2 by Mr S. 

 i. itisnn. and came Uftder the 



■prtitfeflW' af stawdi Caw& i» 



I Kb'.*. Ihc name carvers And daubei 



vanilals have made a mockery Q 

 •neb (I wordl 



Filially, a woid of thanks shouW 

 he recorded 16 McKcnzic's drno 

 ueoigc Wellington, and lo Man k 

 Allender. who, as usual, organise 

 and supervised the Hip very well. 



Notes on Fauna at Wyperfeld and 

 Broughton's Waterhole 



by W R G vskinc- 



In VVvpeilekl National Park Hmsh- 

 Iftilfid Possums were veiy plentiful m 

 Ihe vicinity of the camping area. At 

 mghi every large tree wnlnn a hall- 

 mile radius seemed to contain at least 

 one pair ol shining eyes. 



Ihe Ulack-I'aecd Oiev Kangaroo. 

 \f(i<n>[>ii\ Pqltyjlnasus fttelunOffSt also 

 known as Mallee Grey Kangaioo. and 

 now officially named Wesicrn Cucy. 

 were in evidence at the camp-site ami 

 along the various 1 racks. Few ucte 

 seen there, but Hacks were lairlv 

 common. On the walking trail to 

 I .ike Bramhruk Iracks were more 

 Ircuuenlly encountered, as well as 

 several skeletons When we reached 

 the Red-gum (jTwrafatfjU tumaUlit- 

 tlnais) Hals hoidering the well 

 grassed dry lake bed. wc were 

 rewarded by the sight of a huge 

 mob. which 1 estimated would con- 

 tain at least 500. possibly even 

 1000 loos. These were thickly dis 

 persed among the trees, and animals 

 were vixible for as far as wc could 

 see. As wc moved, slowly towards the 

 lake-bed the grass and shrub-covered 

 ground seemed lo develop a licauug 

 and undulating movement, so mauv 

 animals were there, hopping aw as 

 fiom us in front and (Q each side. 

 Many females carried joeys and 

 re were a number of juveniles at 



Out on ihe grassy lake-bed then 

 was il large mob of emus feeding 

 and hero again I would estimate their 

 numbers in excess of 500, T his moh 

 seemed to melt away us we appeared, 

 as ihc alarmed birds commenced In 

 walk away from ns towards cover 

 In cotitiast to the kangaroos, where 

 voting weie plentiful, these emus did 

 not have anv chicks with them In 

 fact, although two or three small 

 clutches were npoited near \\k 

 camp, no others were seen despite 

 il being chick season" In open, 

 range captivity, such as al Heales- 

 \ille I Vic, ) and Clcland National 

 Park |S V). the nesting pairs tend 

 lo seek isolated nesting sites, and 

 keep the newly hatched clucks in the 

 vicinity lor up lo about a week 

 befoic leading them out into ihe 

 (spcu However, once the chick- 

 appear among the other, non-breedmt 

 birds, ihe laliei aie liable to attempt 

 to siamp on the chicks. I've never 

 he a id a satisfactory explanation of 

 this behaviour, which is also extended 

 in include other small crcalurc*. such 

 as wallabies, ducks, and dogs, and 

 not necessarily in the brecduie 

 season Could it be ail inbuilt means 

 of regulating Ihe growth ot the 

 population? When there are la'pe 



•nrljmd N«fa*J pj.h. SH.^rt.™. X* 

 Vict N»t. Vol. 88 



