218 
BARRETT, Rockhampton Outings [ Th jJf mu 
BOTANIC GARDENS. 
At the beautiful Botanic Gardens on Thursday morning, Octo¬ 
ber 16th, we were the guests of the Mayor, Cr. Kingel. It was 
a rare pleasure to wander among tropic trees and shrubs, many 
of them in flower; to note the gardeners' skill in grouping, and 
from a green rise, watch hundreds of aquatic birds on a blue 
lily lagoon. Rockhampton's Gardens are famous, even overseas. 
Among the world's tropic Botanic Gardens, they have few rivals 
for beauty and scientific interest. But, naturally, the birds of 
the long lagoon, an ideal little sanctuary, claimed the most atten¬ 
tion. There we saw many familiar species, and some “strangers” 
— at least, to delegates from the south. Three Glossy Ibises 
(Plegadis falcinellus ) were grouped on a tiny, reed-covered pro¬ 
montory. Through field-glasses we could see them, for a while, 
sunshine gleaming on their richly-colored plumage. Plumed 
Whistling Ducks ( Deudrocygna cytoni ) were swimming quietly 
near the further shore, three in company. Of Whistling Ducks 
(D. javanica ), there were many, 100 all told, perhaps. Ducks 
of other species were less plentiful; but at one end of the lagoon 
a flock of Pelicans ( P elec anus conspicillatus) was fishing. The 
lagoon added more than a dozen species to our list; while in the 
Gardens we noted 18, including several Honey-eaters, the Pale¬ 
headed Rosella ( Platycercus adscitus), the Pied Butcher-Bird 
(Cracticus nigrogularis) , and the Banded Finch (Steganopleura 
hichenovii) . Some of us had been in the Gardens before, several 
times; but custom does not stale their beauty, and we were glad 
to be there again, with our host and other friends, familiar with 
every shrub and tree, and the birds that find sanctuary in a haunt 
of peace within the city’s boundaries. 
GRACEMERE. 
The very name is pleasant to write, and to speak—a musical 
word; and the station homestead is beautiful and of historic 
interest. It was a privilege, as well as a pleasure, to be guests 
at Gracemere, to meet the Archer family, and wander about the 
gardens, along the lagoon, and through the scrub a mile away. 
A hot afternoon, but the cool verandah of the old grey home¬ 
stead gave delightful shade. The garden, too, offered shadows, 
and the splendour of tropic flowers: a noble Jacaranda was a 
cloud of lilac bloom. The lagoon, we were told, was unusually 
poor in bird life just then; yet we saw Stilts and Terns and 
Plovers, three species of Cormorant, Egrets, and Darters 
(Anhinga novce-hollandice) f Herons ( Notophoyx novce-hollan- 
dice ), and Sea-eagles, high in air. The scrub yielded a score of 
species; and there we were shown a nest of the Sea-eagles, with 
a young bird lying, dead and maimed, on the ground below. 
Carl Lumholtz, long ago, was a guest at Gracemere, and in his 
book, “Among Cannibals,” he describes the homestead and its 
