226 
NATURE NOTES 
we liave christened the Castle, and intend to visit as soon as 
the tide ebbs somewhat. Four or five of the formidable Pacific 
gulls, large, though not yet mature, as evidenced by the mottled 
plumage, fly along the beach, and presently one makes a dash 
into a rock-pool and hauls therefrom a long, limp object, to 
obtain possession of which the others immediately fall upon 
him and a great fight ensues, which we interrupt by rushing 
over with shouts, upon which the pirates drop their booty and 
make off over the water. After some search we find a large eel 
lying upon its back on the rocks, and quite dead. Continuing 
towards the Castle we disturb the long-necked one from his 
siesta on the battlements, and find him to be a white-fronted 
heron, which colonial parlance, with its usual perversity, has. 
twisted into the epithet “ Blue Crane.” This wader is very 
plentiful on our coast, and may be seen in dozens in the shallow 
water at the edge of the sandbanks which are prominent features 
of the Mersey estuary. This heron is of a slaty-blue colour, 
with white forehead and throat, and when flying carries its head 
tucked well back between the shoulders and the long legs well 
up under the body. It builds in gum trees at a considerable 
height from the ground ; and a heronry of twenty to thirty nests 
may be seen up one of the backwaters of the Tasmanian Mersey. 
The white-fronted heron is of a very jealous disposition when 
food-hunting, and one will often attack another when standing 
in the shallow water, and chase him a,way with harsh, guttural 
cries. Our bird having flown, we ascended the Castle, and stood 
on top of the columns which compose it, having a good oppor- 
tunity from this elevation of admiring the columnar formation 
of the Bluff near by. We found a natural arch at the Castle 
formed by the washing out of the centre of a reef which was 
composed of short columns, the tops being so tightly wedged 
by Nature that they remained suspended after the breakers had 
worn away the centres, and so left a long shallow archway 
through which the waters freely rolled. 
West Devonport, Tasmania. H. Stuart Dove. 
SELBORNIANA. 
Another Book on Gilbert White. — Mr. Elliot Stock is 
publishing a new book by ]. C. Wright, the author of “ In the 
Good Old Times,” entitled “ ‘ Saint ’ Gilbert : The Story of 
Gilbert White and Selborne.” The work deals with the pioneer 
naturalist and his environment, and narrates the main features) 
his life. 
Forty Pounds’ Worth of Wild Ferns! — The following 
appears in The London Teacher for November i : — 
“ Botanical Specimens. — The chief official of the botany scheme travelled 
for a fortnight of the holiday period in search of specimens of crypti'gamic 
material, and was granted a sum not exceeding los. for travelling expenses 
