220 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
of a ganger, who assured us that ten minutes back along 
the works a party of men were working who had found a 
track to the Nepean, which they would point out to us; 
so, with light hearts, we set out. That ten minutes was 
like unto the proverbial bush mile, and extended into 
one hour fifteen minutes; that is, from the 73 mile peg 
back to the 69 mile; although it was a pleasant hour, for 
we came across our first Jacky Winter (lWVtcroeca fas- 
cinans), and learnt that the white-throated, Tree Creeper 
(Climacteris scandens) had a very melodious call. The 
Jacky Winter of the tableland is more definitely marked 
than the Jacky we are used to in Sydney. His breast is 
much lighter in colow, and shows out prominently; while 
he has a white feather in his wings—but does he sing? We 
heard him not, and failed to find anyone who had heard 
his melodious song. 
Two thousand feet above sea level, an early Spring 
day, with Acacia decurrens var mollis in full bloom, and 
a Jacky Winter coquetting along the road in front of 
you from post to post, make a soulful combination, and 
you feel as if you belonged to some other world, and that 
time and distance were things of the earth, a place you 
have a vague feeling about. 
A Spine Bill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) was not 
of our mind, however, as he was busily engaged having 
his midday meal of flies, which were very plentiful on 
the Acacias; and a white-throated Tree Creeper was also 
searching for food, and gave us an exhibition of his pow- 
ers by descending a tree backwards, ‘‘cheep cheeping”’ all 
the way. A scarlet-breasted Robin (Petroica legger) 
helped to complete the enchantment of the day. 
Although the flowers were represented solely by the 
Acacias, (discolor, with its pale and orange flowers, was 
in evidence), a magnificent Hucalyptus punctata gladdened 
the landscape with its wealth of new claret-coloured foli- 
age framed in sunshine, and its slaty-coloured bark, punc- 
tuated with blotches of reds and yellows—colours that 
inan, seemingly, is unable to reproduce. 
The reports of blasting operations notified that our 
ten minutes was closing in, and a man frantically waving 
