228 
CHISHOLM, Yeppoon-Byfield Excursion [ Th j a n. mu 
Byfield, it seems certain that an egg found in a Yellow Warbler’s 
nest was that of russatus . Further north it has been found to 
parasitise the Gcrygones to an embarrassing extent. 
We had not been long at Byfield when we began to be im¬ 
pressed by the birds that were absent as much as by those that 
were present. It was almost uncanny, for instance, to be in 
scrubs all day without hearing the familiar notes of the Golden¬ 
breasted Whistler ( Pachycephala gutturalis) . Almost as striking 
was the absence of the Yellow-throated Scrub-Wren ( Seri - 
cornis citreogularis) , for its smaller, large-billed relative ( S . 
magnirostris ) was quite abundant. Moreover, what had become 
of the Rifle-Bird, the Regent Bower-Bird, the Satin Bower-Bird, 
the Cat-Bird, the Spine-tailed Log-runner, and the Pale-yellow 
Robin (Poecilodryas capito), all of which are familiar in the 
jungles of South-eastern Queensland? That the Lyre-Bird 
should reach that far was not to be expected; and yet it is just 
as strong in wings and feet as the Pitta. The Log-runners, too, 
are confined to the ground, but surely the southern bird is just 
as fitted for travel as the Pitta, and the northern species as 
capable as the Megapode. The Cat-Bird and Bower-Birds, 
similarly, cannot be excused on the ground of food supply, for 
they subsist largely in the manner of Fruit Pigeons. However, 
there is the break, with the meaning thereof remaining to be 
written.* 
Little more need be said here of other features of the Byfield 
district. Its creeks are made beautiful by groves of very tall 
palms, and charm is added botanically by the presence of large 
quantities of a graceful cycad ( Bowcnia spectabilis). This is the 
species named a few years ago by Professor Chamberlain, of 
America, who went to Byfield to see B. serrulata, and found a 
new species instead. Three beautiful orchids were common — 
Dendrobium ccinaliculatuni festooning the tea-trees with white, 
purple and gold flowers, and the golden-brown blooms of Cym- 
bidium suave and C . catialiculatuui showing out freely among 
dead timber. 
Lepidoptera and insects generally, remain to be worked out 
from the good collections made; but the securing of many new 
specimens as well as extensions of ranges is certain. Snakes 
were not numerous. One or two black ones were seen, and a 
death adder was shot (by lamplight) close to the camp. Bats 
offered several species, with the persistent fruit-bats, or flying 
foxes, occurring in myriads. A mile or so from the camp was 
a colony of these unpleasant creatures that must have covered 
every tree over a square mile. When disturbed, the whirring of 
*When considering this subject it is important to note that Broad- 
bent (1888) found the Satin Bower-bird and Regent-bird on the Ber¬ 
serker Range, near Rockhampton, and the Golden-breasted Whistler, 
Pale-yellow Robin, and Rose Robin in scrubs beside the Fitzroy River, 
break is a narrow one.—A.H.C. 
