180 



THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



every shot he scratched himself where he 

 was hit, but never made the slightest move- 

 ment to get out of the way. When I skinned 

 him I found many of the shots only half 

 way through the skin, and some even stuck 

 in the fur — number three shot. The opposum 

 is a beautiful little fellow about the size of 

 a cat, the fur is lovely ; they can only be 

 shot in moonlight as they vanish during the 

 day into hollow trees. Birds of many kinds 

 are abundant, from the little bird the size 

 of a butterfly, to the gigantic emu as large 

 as an ostrich. Some of them are very beau- 

 tiful, the parrots especially ; they swarm 

 in thousands, so also do cockatoos, and do 

 great damage to the maize crop by eating 

 the cob, i.e. the corn head. There are also 

 some splendid hawks and eagles, also the 

 pelican, stork, heron, turkey, duck, quail, 

 snipe, owl, and bats in abundance ; one bat 

 they call the flying fox is a most destructive 

 midnight marauder, they come in swarms 

 to eat the peaches. It is a good sport shoot- 

 ing them, the more you shoot, the thicker 

 they seem to get ; the largest I shot measured 

 four feet two inches from tip to tip of wings, 

 the body is about ten inches to a foot long, 

 covered with a fine reddish brown coloured 

 fur, whilst the wings are like a piece of thin 

 indian-rubber stretched on wire. One species 

 has a long bushy tail like a squirrel, whilst 

 another has no semblance of a tail at all. I 

 had almost forgotten an old country friend in 

 the person of the crow, he is plentiful, and 

 evidently likes bush life. Of reptiles I think 

 we have our share, the largest is the carpet 

 snake which grows in some cases to twenty 

 feet or more, this monster is classed as non- 

 venomous. The brown snake, about ten feet 

 long, is venomous ; I killed one in the garden 

 five feet nine inches long. The black snake 

 attains the same size and bears a similar 

 character ; one I killed was four feet eleven 

 and half inches in length. The diamond 

 snake is the finest marked one of the whole 

 lot, the scales are all arranged in diamonds. 



with the most minute precision, black, and 

 reddish-white alternately, it is very fierce 

 and will show fight on the slightest provo- 

 cation. There are millions of frogs, and a 

 bonnie row they kick up when a shower 

 comes. They climb up trees, up the rafters 

 inside the house, and I was astonished to 

 find one climbing up the glass on the outside 

 of the window. So much for the climbing 

 powers of the frog, they climb anywhere 

 and everywhere, in colour they are pea 

 green. Of insects the most troublesome 

 are the mosquitoes, they are a veritable 

 plague, and are always worst at nights. 

 The butterflies are in great variety, and 

 some of them very large and beautiful. 

 Beetles are found in plenty, and you need 

 not go far to collect them, if you stand at 

 the door at night with a lighted lamp in 

 your hand you are apt to suppose that some 

 one is behind a tree pelting you with stones. 

 They are very sociable, and have a remark- 

 ably forcible way of introducing themselves 

 to your notice, and so much at this time for 

 the beetles. While I write now the lightning 

 is flashing and the thunder pealing from 

 every point of the compass, it is 9.40 p.m., 

 and yet with the display of electricity, the 

 ten mile off mountains are visible as clearly 

 as by day. 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



By joHN E. RoBSON. 



ARCTICA MENDICA. 



The Mustin. 



The present species is rather a favourite 

 with beginners. The pure white of the 

 female makes it very conspicuous in the 

 grassy banks it often frequents, to which the 

 smoky black of the male forms a peculiar 

 contrast. Pairs may be taken among the 

 grass and low plants in the morning sun, 

 and both sexes sit on palings, but the dull 



