94 
NATURE NOTES. 
little wooden bridge which spans the Black-fish Creek, over 
which bridge we must go to reach the township. The jarring of 
horse’s hoofs and cart wheels does not seem to affect the little 
birds, as the spot is selected each season. It is very pretty to 
see the dainty little things sailing backwards and forwards over 
the swiftly running brook, sometimes catching gnats, sometimes 
each with a white feather in the beak to add to the soft lining of 
the nest. 
Septenihey 13. — The summer bird (Graucalus parvirostris) now 
arrives. This is a well-known bird on bush-clearings, where it 
flits with graceful undulatory motion from stump to stump and 
from tree to tree. It is about the size of a thrush, the form light 
and graceful, the plumage of a beautiful bluish-grey, setting off 
the dark feathers about the head. A curious note is uttered by 
these birds, a very rapid note somewhat like the noise made by 
the toy birds on small platforms which children draw along the 
ground. The summer bird loves to frequent the tops of the tall 
eucalyptus trees, where among the drooping foliage it discovers 
the larvae and other soft insects which form its diet. 
September 14 — The black larvae of a large moth now appear 
on the leaves of young gum trees. These caterpillars are of a 
heavy, ungainly build, and attain a large size before entering the 
pupal state. When young they are always seen in groups upon 
the large leaves of the gum saplings, and often arrange them- 
selves in a circle with their heads pointing towards the centre. 
When disturbed they protect themselves in the following 
ludicrous fashion, viz., by exuding a viscid yellow substance 
from the mouth and at the same moment bending their tails over 
their backs until they touch the substance at the mouth, by this 
means bedaubing both extremities with it. It is an extraordinary 
sight to watch a large leaf covered with these thick, black 
ungainly creatures, all in quick motion, going through the 
gymnastic exercise just described and bedaubing themselves 
with the sticky strong-smelling secretion, which is, doubtless, 
intended as a protection against their numerous enemies, such 
as the suinmer bird lately noted. These caterpillars are very 
conspicuous on account of their large size and habit of grouping 
themselves together upon a single leaf or twig, so that some 
special protective faculty is needed to give them a fair chance in 
the struggle for existence. 
September 28. — The gum saplings are full of all sorts of 
interesting creatures waiting to be observed : for instance, two of 
the leaves were found cemented together, and on opening them 
carefully, a small brown caterpillar was found within, which had 
constructed a neat circular fortress between the two leaf surfaces. 
On the gum leaves is occasionally to be seen a semi-trans- | 
parent, greenish, very flat little insect, which runs sideways with j 
amazing swiftness, and always manages to slip to the under side ' 
of the leaf when observed. A brightly-mottled black and yellow 
spider constructs a large nest on gum leaves; a brown spider [ 
