THE AUSTRALIAN’ NATURALIST. 125 
few starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are to- be see, but they are 
far from common. Finally, there are several members of the 
Corvidae family. The Australian Raven (Corone australis) is 
very troublesome to lambs, and when hungry will even kill the 
latter. The Apostle Bird ( Struthidea cinerea) is very com- 
mon. ‘These noisy birds are at present in flocks, and have just 
started to pair. The White-winged Chough (Corcorax melanor- 
hamphus) is also a common bird, and like the Apostle bird in 
habits. The last two birds build mud nests, and their chief food 
seems to be insects and seeds obtained on the ground. 
A TRIP TO GOSFORD. 
Asstrract or Report py Miss Isapen Busy. 
In the course of a short holiday during the Michaelmas yvaca- 
tion of 1918, Misses A. A. Brewster, Austin, and Busby ex- 
plored botanically the localities in the Gosford district men- 
tioned below, and were rewarded with many interesting finds, 
besides having a very pleasant and scientifically profitable ex- 
cursion—Boronia pinnata and Gomphiobiwm grandiflorum were 
at their best, and Pultenaea flexilis formed beautitul patches 
of golden cloud, while everywhere along the railway embank- 
ments the frail loveliness of the blue iris, Patersonia servicea, 
was in evidence. <A walk from Gosford to Point Frederick 
took the party past the salt marshes bordering the Broadwater. 
Here the dominant vegetation was the fleshy red-tipped Salicornia 
and Spergularia, while patches of Juncus maritimus and Cotula . 
coronopifolia were noticed, also, bordering the swamps, Mela- 
leuca pauciflora and M. armillaris. All along the water’s edge 
were mangroves (Aegiceras), with its breathing roots or pneu- 
matophores. In the swamp were Melaleuca pauciflora and 
patcthes of mosses, notably Sphagnum, with here and there beds 
of the native yiolet and other shade-loving plants. Another 
walk, this time to Mount Penang through most beautiful scen- 
ery, yielded a greater abundance of flowers than on the lower 
ground. The white blossoms of Leptospermum formed ex- 
- quisite masses everywhere. At several places patches of the 
large moss Dawsonia polytrichoides were discovered in spore, the 
sporophyte showing the pretty reddish brown calyptia. In the 
marshes on the highlands the prevailing vegetation consisted of 
reeds (Juncus), with abundance of Sowerbaea juncea and the 
