Also, during recent years, Mr. 

 Hookc iiuhK- "ivkTiintn" available on 

 occasion to certain ol his frretttfa and 



t In.it families. \vln> wished to spend 

 .1 tew days, or a week or so. m the 

 quictlttfc Of the hills. I his was appre- 

 ciated both hy Melbourne residents 

 seeking a respite fiotii the siihiuhan 

 environment, and by persons liom 

 rnufth lather afield, interested peihaps 

 in thfi opportuiniy to sec lyrebirds 

 and olhei dem/en.s of iiiL.untain 

 forests. 



An endeavour is being made to 

 maintain •Merrimu" as a holiday 

 collate, for people genuinely inter- 



ested in the natural environmon I 

 Members ol Ihc field Naluralw, 

 Club particularly country member, 

 — and of similar organization? Ml 

 invited to participate; and f U rth. t: 

 infin mation may be had from Nor- 

 man A. Wakefield. P.O. Box $ 

 Ferntree Cully. Vic.. 315(1 (ph 0ril 

 750-1 SOI ) 



II 'Men unit" can be maintainci 

 pcrmaneuilv in this way. it will be ;lP 

 appropriate mc.moiial to (aam V- 

 llookc, who served the cause gj 

 natural history so well thnuighi j 

 his lile. 



— N.A.W. 



I', itu I ii in. 



In the report on the Wyperfeld t amp-out (V/fJ V,/; 88: I hi a. I hi). j n 

 second column, line 26: read— , Scrub-wren'* ... in place ol Scrub-rob 

 ItttAM the words "habitat map- 



Field Naturalists Club of Victoria 



General Mcilincs 



10 Muy. IV7I 

 Summary of talk given by Mr. J. II. 



Willis on the New Guinea Highland! 



Regions vi-.itcd l>s Mi. Willis included 

 the small C'lnmlui distiict which has a 

 population ol almost a quarlci ol a 

 million people. Altitudes here rlu to 

 fift«fn thousand fect. There aie taiuv 

 afiei range of ra/oi backed udpes, 

 many dcnudeit of trees hy the policy 

 ol successive cultivation and later 

 desertion by the natives as fertility of 

 shallow soil on the slopes becomes 

 exhausted. Now, throughout the High 

 lands, sleep slopes are seen to be cov- 

 ered with coarse grasses or limited 

 grazing value, instead of the loiests 

 that once clothed Ihem a wastctul 



economy. 



In (he hn-hest alps natural herb 

 fields give way in mosses and lichens 



Many plants m the higher parts of Now 

 Cilices aie closely related to those ft 

 our Victorian Alps, e.g., Auflia pupa- 

 iina is veiy like I <///'um in Victoria 

 I eriu aie prolific throughout New 

 Guinea alps, and there arc several beau 

 tilul ranunculi, gentians and potcntilh* 

 I'it-pit (ir.iss thrives alony the lovch 

 Wtthja Valley yvherc it is used lot 

 thatching, 'he tender shoots hem.: 

 cooked and eaten, lea, coffee and Kin- 

 ana plantations are now replacing pit- 

 pit on the rich, black, peaty soils &l 

 this valley, and at least one native 

 tanner here (Doa Ments) is now . 

 wealthy man. A slide showed him 

 adorned for an impoitanl occasion: on 

 hH he. i<l was ,i high magnificent hod 

 dies-, ol hud-of -paradise feathers, whid 

 is carefully dismantled alter each specie 

 ..ocasirm nnd ihc fathers stoud httWM 

 dried banana leaves. 



204 



V.cr Nat Vol 8? 



