145 
July 30, 1910. The Queensland Naturalist. 
to reveal their white under tail-coverts. Later on these 
birds visited the fore-shores of the SAvamp to feed on the 
tender herbage, in troups of a dozen in some instances, 
A solitary small Bittern — of undetermined species— flashed 
before its features could be scrutinized, and flew just over 
the open water. And, as if resting fiom a protracted flight, 
or, it may be, bent on sunning themselves, small flocks of 
Fairy Martens reposed on certain reed-masses. 
In contrast to this wealth of the feathered tribe that 
the swamp presented, the poverty in this respect of the 
surrounding bush— open to the siaughter effected by the 
votaries of the pea-rifle — was noteworthy ; few birds "other 
than Australian Minahs {Manorhina garrula), one or two 
Butcher Birds {Cracticus) and Rufous-breasted Thickheads 
being met with. 
The waters of the swamp were not explored for insect 
denizens, except incidentally by the President in studying 
“ Pond L'fe,” But the lovely Blue Water-lilies (Nelum- 
hiun qiqanteum) had experienced great damage from the 
caterpillars of Paraponyx defunctata, Guerin, this j:)eculiar 
water-loving insect — almost as transparent as the v^ater 
itself— occurring in places in numbers beneath every leaf, 
living securely under the protection of fragments of their 
special food-plant, which by glutinous threads they had 
fastened to these. [Note. — The special interest connected 
with the aquatic habits of Paraponyx was dwelt upon 
by one of us at an earlier meeting of the Club]. 
In the vicinity of the swamp patches of Tea-Tree 
{Melaleuca) brush, as well a>s “suckers” of Eucalyptus 
tereticornis grew, and these yielded numerous insects. The 
former w^ere being consumed "by sand- fly larvae [Perga sp. sp.), 
but only one adult insect was captured. They also yielded 
caterpillars of the stinging caterpillar, Doratifera, as Avell 
as the pretty plant-eating beetle (Cryptocephalus speciosus) 
and a handsome caterpillar of a large pyrale, living solitary 
in the folded-up leaves. The Eucalyptus supported not 
only the beetle mentioned, as well as the Doratifera, but a 
second species of the same moth-genus. With the latter 
plants grew clumps of Wickstrcernia indica, and the foliage 
of the plant was extensively injured by the caterpillars 
of the pyralid moth [Pyrausta violacea). 
On beating the numerous bushes forming a brush 
on the hillside facing the swamp, a few plytophayous beetles 
and some additional saw-fly larvae were met Avith. Also 
examples of more than one kind of the phaneropterid locust 
genus (Coedicia), including C. lonqipennis and the related 
Symrmchis lactipennis. Passing on to the higher ground 
to the North, the bushes yielded additional examples of 
small Curculionidae and leaf eating beetles proper. Here 
also Avas taken an example of the beautiful Acrophylla 
