Miscellanea . 
459 
1839. No species of Petaurus, or flying opossum, exists indi¬ 
genously in Tasmania. 
Mr. Gunn read an article from the Athenaum of the 21st 
September, 1844, by which it appeared that Professor Hitchcock, 
of Massachusetts, suggests that the large nests observed by 
Captains Cook and Flinders on the coast of Australia might be 
those of the Moa, or Gigantic Bird of New Zealand , but Mr. 
Gunn stated that they were those of the Australian Sea Eagle 
(Ichthyicetus leucogaster ), a bird not uncommon in Tasmania* 
where he had seen its enormous nest—a nest much larger than 
the size of the bird would seem to require. 
A specimen of Bittern, shot at Penquite, on the 1st May, 1845, 
was exhibited, and seemed very distinct from the species common 
in the island. 
Mr. James Grant drew attention to Mr. Gould having described 
the White Hawk of this island as a mere albino variety of the 
Astur Raii , Vig. fy Horsf , which latter he has therefore figured 
as Astur Nova Ilollandice. Mr. Grant's observations upon this 
subject appear in the present number of the Tasmanian Journal . 
C. S. Henty, Esq., mentioned as a curious fact in the habits of 
the Black Swan ( Cygnus atratus ), that a domesticated pair at 
Srathmore, on the Nile Rivulet, have absented themselves for six 
or seven months in each year, for some years past, and always 
returned early in the season to lay their eggs and rear their young 
in the large sheet of water in front of the house. 
Read extracts from a letter addressed to Mr. R. C. Gunn, by 
Dr. E. C. Hobson, dated Melbourne, June 1845, relative to fossil 
bones at Port Phillip. Vide Tasmanian Journal , page 344. 
August 6, 1845. 
C. S. Henty, Esq., exhibited a specimen of a fossil fish stated to 
have been picked up at Middle Island, River Tamar, embedded in a 
rounded stone on the beach. No impressions of fish had hitherto 
been found in any rocks in Tasmania, and a verification of the lo¬ 
cality where the present specimen was found would be desirable. 
Mr. Henty also produced specimens of the Tasmanian Swift 
(Acanthylis caudacuta, Lath.), shot at Cormiston, near Laun¬ 
ceston, in April. It was remarked that this bird usually appears 
in Van Diemen’s Land in February and March, but they were very 
numerous in April, 1844. The height in the air at which they 
usually fly removes them from general observation. 
W. II. Breton, Esq., exhibited various articles made by the 
aborigines at Port Essington, on the north coast of New Holland. 
The basket or bag was very similar in form and fabric to those 
made by the aborigines of Tasmania. 
James Grant, Esq , mentioned that a Petaurus sciureus , Desm. 
the flying squirrel of the colonists oi Port Phillip, had been shot 
