70 
The Queensland Naturalist 
November, 1943 
by the mother. When they see her coming with some 
tucker they will race to her and the winner takes it on 
the wing. And talking of these swallows, just stand in 
the rain and watch them some day. They are sure to be 
there — swooping and turning, somersaulting and twist- 
ing, flying low over the pools yet barely skimming the 
surface — tlying so close that their russet throats and 
deep blue backs open one's eyes with wonder. Look 
up, too, what a gathering on the telephone wires ! What 
a happy, excited, gossipy gathering ! 
Our willie wagtail likes us so very much that he 
takes the cocoanut fibre from the fern baskets to build 
his nest. I've caught the scarlet honeyeater doing that, 
too. This willy has had a wonderful time — about full 
moon last month he could be heard singing in the moon- 
light about 1 or 2 each morning. In spite of the lack 
of sleep his nesting operations appear to be proceeding 
according to plan. 
Of course, I have had to leave quite a few out — 
the black-faced and leaden flycatchers go through each 
February and September. You would love my fly- 
catchers in their soft greys and oranges. They are easy 
to distinguish apart from their colouring, because when 
they land on a branch, their tails tremble ever so slightly. 
From across the Pacific have come the words of a 
naturalist for whom I have the greatest admiration, John 
Burroughs, a naturalist in the fullest and wisest sense 
of the word. In one of his essays he says of his rambles, 
"Whichever way I go, I'm glad I came." And although 
the birds and trees and stones of these few paddocks are 
so very well known to me, such are their variety and 
charm that I say with John Burroughs, "Whichever way 
I go I'm glad I came." 
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 
By Dr. E. 0. Marks; delivered 15th February, 1943. 
On the occasion of his retirement, the President of 
this Club is expected to deliver an address. Would that 
I had either the mind or the matter, as I have the desire, 
to give you something worthy of the occasion, something of 
fresh scientific interest. But the times are such that none 
