28 
NATURE NOTES. 
there, they eventually rest on the top of a prickly mimosa in 
which there is apparently a bundle of hay, and after some ex- 
amination we can make out (for the tree is but a small one) that 
it is shaped like a Florence oil flask — a big bulb at one end and 
a long neck-like tunnel at the other. Towards this queer con- 
struction our little group make after they have frolicked suffi- 
ciently, and pop one after another into the woven grass tunnel 
which protects their home. 
Here, clinging to the stem of an old-man fern, is a large 
brown mis-shapen looking insect, which at first sight puzzles us. 
We take it in our hands and perceive that it is but a case very 
perfect, but empty, and along the back a slit from which the 
imprisoned one has escaped. It is the nymph-case of the cicada 
or “ locust,” as he is universally called here among the bush- 
folk, a fine insect over two inches across the outstretched wings, 
which are beautifully veined and dotted. He sings away merrily 
through the long summer days, sitting upon the gum trees or 
upon bits of scrub, and when disturbed launches himself upon 
the air with a sort of click and seeks a fresh resting-place, there 
to recommence his never-ending soliloqujf. A different life, 
truly, he is living now, in the free air and bright sunshine, amid 
the scent of the countless wild flowers, to that passed in the 
preliminary stages, when he grovelled beneath the soil as the 
bloated, repulsive-looking creature whose presentiment lies upon 
our hand ! But a breeze of the evening moves, and strange 
murmurings are heard in the tree tops, murmurings so like 
human voices that we can scarcely believe we are not within 
hail of a goodly company of our fellow-creatures. Perhaps the 
nymphs and dryads, the beautiful old-world spirits who melted 
awa)' as cities grew and men multiplied, yet linger amid the 
sublime scenery of these primeval forests, where Nature wears 
the aspect she has worn for thousands of years. Who knows ? 
A wallab)’, startled from his lair, crashes away among the 
undergrowth as we walk quickly homewards, while from a hole 
high up in yonder giant gum, a family of ring-tailed ’possums 
come gliding down for their nocturnal gambols. 
H. S. Dove. 
Table Cape, Tasmania. 
A Curious Nest. — The finding of a curious nest at Beanacre, near Melk- 
sham, was noticed a few weeks ago in a Bristol paper. While removing a large 
stone, 7 feet long by 4 feet wide, which had not been touched for upwards of forty 
years, a gentleman found, under the centre, a curious nest composed of very fine 
dry grass, the structure being thicker at one end than at the other, and occup)-ing a 
space 12 inches by 6 inches. There was a small hole in it about ij inches in 
diameter. Inside were 243 very large acorns. The nearest oak tree is 500 yards 
away, and the little tenant would have to cross a railway to get to it. It is thought 
to be the home of a dormouse. Under other parts of the stone there were acorns 
which had germinated, thus showing that the place must have been occupied some 
time. 
Robert F. McCoxxeli.. 
