THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 91 
distinguished themselves. One broke open while being car- 
red back to camp and let his captive out. Two others emerged 
from the egg the following morning in full view of a score 
of nature students. Such a rare occurrence to fall to their lot 
to witness was rightly regarded by all as an extraordinary 
one, evidently specially arranged for their benefit. The little 
lizards were fully equipped for their forest life directly they 
came out of the eggs. ; 
“Mr. Gurney’s leaf insect has laid an egg,’’ said an ex- 
cited young member one morning. The breakfast eggs and 
porridge were forgotten at once, and attention was concen- 
trated upon a little brown ovate body with a white maltese 
cross sculptured upon it which a green leaf insect had laid. 
Shocked by the prying eyes the insect hunched up her leaf- 
like legs and curled her body to resemble a twisted eucalyptus 
leaf, but nobody hurt her. Indeed, one member of the party 
wanted to let her go tree for her exploit, but Mr. Gurney pro- 
tested, as he wished to observe its food-plant in the State 
Herbarium at Narara. 
It was said that Mr. Gurney would not release it for pounds, 
and to judge by the earnestness and energy of this worker in 
scientific fields, nothing small escaped his notice if it did any- 
thing out of the common. A huge mosquito found that out 
to her cost—it is only lady mosquitoes which attack humanity. 
She ventured into his tent and was discovered on the wall. 
In a trice she was secured and placed in the killing bottle. 
After the excursions for the day Messrs. Gurney, Stead, 
Johnston, Dr, Griffith, Cheel, and other leaders spoke en- 
thusiastically of the thoroughness of the work of the collec- 
tors. They were kept busy till a late hour identifying in- 
sects, plants, etc. ae 
Mr. Horan made a great find. It was supposed to bea 
bora or boora tree, and it was only five minutes’ walk from 
the camp. These trees are marked with designs of boomerangs, 
spears, etc., and usually occupy a cleared place where the 
aboriginals carry out the mystic ceremony of admitting boys 
to manhood. This particular tree was a bloodwood gum, and 
while it may not have been a bora tree, it was certainly an 
aboriginal record. From branch to base it was scarred with 
rough representations of the boomerang. In the opinion of 
one member of the party it was at any rate a place of record 
of some chief. 
Geologically, the trip had great interest. Apart from the 
outstanding feature of the Terrigal skillion, which, it was 
explained by Mr. McDonough, is a striking example of an 
outcrop of the Narrabeen shales, the Gosford district is a 
rich ground for the student. South of Terrigal is Bulbarar- 
