234 
NATURE NOTES. 
had himself, from time to time, carried out excavations on the 
Downs. About three years a^o he traced out a very fine Roman 
or British Camp on the summit of the South Downs above his 
village, which was surveyed and confirmed by the Ordnance 
Survey. 
But in all he said and did was that reverent love of Nature, 
and care of her work, which we wish to see in all our members ; 
and in recording our loss we feel that we have indeed lost one 
who was full of the spirit of our work, and who spent his life in 
spreading that spirit among others. 
NATURE NOTES FROM NORTHERN TASMANIA. 
CTOBER 26. A curious spider with lumpy body and 
two protuberances at the extremity of the abdomen, 
throws itself headlong from the gum leaf with a kind of 
click on being disturbed, and hanging by a thread with 
its legs closely folded, exactly resembles a piece of dirt. 
There is another odd-looking spider which may frequently be 
seen on the under surfaces of gum leaves, lying in wait for prey. 
The body is quite triangular, tapering to a sharp point, and the 
back is like a handsome piece of mosaic, inlaid with various 
colours. It forms no web, but clings to the under surfaces of 
the leaves with its legs laid together, and remains quite motion- 
less until something edible comes within reach. 
The native shrub called “ red currant ” {Coprosma Billardieri), 
which shoots up here and there on the clearing, now bears its 
insignificant greenish flowers, which are succeeded by a small, 
red berry, edible, but scarcely tempting. The leaves of this 
shrub are very small, and the stems thorny. There is another, 
called the “white currant” {Leucopogon Richei), which grows close 
to the sea, the berries of which are of a nicer flavour, while 
those of its relative, the “ native lavender” {Leucopogon australis), 
are not unpleasant. 
A small quantity of alluvial gold was obtained from a creek 
or rivulet running into the Inglis river. The gold is in flattened 
pellets of various sizes, is of a good colour, and very pure. 
With it was associated a soft stone, called “ red raddlestone,” 
which will make a red streak if rubbed upon wood, and is said 
to be a good indication of gold both here and in New Zealand. 
From the same creek-bottom were obtained small black lumps 
of zinc blende, called by the miners “ black jack.” 
During the past week the notes of the trilling cuckoo {Cuculns 
Jlabelliforinis) have been heard at night, beginning about eight in 
the evening and continuing the greater part of the night. The 
pleasant rippling notes produced by this familiar bird have a 
most charming effect when heard after dark, borne through the 
