5904 



An Entomologisf s 



and, letting its prey fall from a height that is always fatal, it will then 

 descend and make an nndisturbed meal of its senseless victim : on 

 contemplating this bird, I was particularly struck with the wisdom 

 that had created a form and powers so admirably adapted to its mode 

 of life. The neighbourhood in which I was living abounded in the 

 diamond snake, one of the most deadly of reptiles: on the 16th of 

 September I assisted in killing a large female of this species, four feet 

 in length and as thick as my arm. 



On the 23rd we bade adieu to Mount Macedon, and turned our 

 faces towards Mount Alexander. After emerging from the Black 

 Forest the country ascends gradually for forty miles, and consists of 

 a series of hills and dales. The geological formation of the hills is 

 sandstone (not trap) and slate in alternate strata, here and there inter- 

 mixed with a stratum of milk-white quartz. Indeed immediately after 

 leaving Melbourne, and all the way to the Diggings, you continually 

 meet with fragments of white quartz whichever way you turn. The 

 country is generally wooded with the various species of Eucalyptus : 

 they are ungraceful trees, but often grow to a height of eighty or a 

 hundred feet. The yellow wattle, a species of Acacia, is a beautiful 

 tree, covered with a profusion of golden blossoms smelUng most fra- 

 grantly. Wherever we went the flowering Epacris attended our foot- 

 steps, reminding us, by its heath-like appearance, of our distant home. 

 A small bright yellow Narcissus was also common, opening its delicate 

 petals to the vernal sun. 



A few days after leaving Mount Macedon my companions and I 

 had each paid our thirty shillings license, and had become veritable 

 gold-diggers, making our debut on Moonlight Flat or Gully, Forest 

 Creek, and Natural History at once became a secondary consideration ; 

 still T never omitted an opportunity of admiring the beauties of crea- 

 tion, and of adding to my collection of insects. 



About the middle of October the weather became settled, and the 

 sun intensely hot. Insects of course appeared plentifully, more espe- 

 cially Coleoptera of the longicorn genus Phoracantha : these. Hying at 

 sunset, had the most curious appearance, from the great length of their 

 outstretched antennae. A large moth, an undescribed species of Om- 

 matophora, was very plentiful in October and November, but always 

 in bad condition. A species of the genus Plusia was also very com- 

 mon, and whenever I walked through the dried-up herbage, in October 

 or the beginning of November, numbers of drab-coloured Noctua3 

 would start up before me. 



During the month of November I observed many beautiful species 



