190 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
proceeds to wave about just above its mouth; small marine 
animals such as shrimps are attracted to this bait, and enter- 
ing its mouth are swallowed. This is the Angler Fish. An- 
other good example of mimicry in fish is that of a fresh water 
form of the Gudgeon family, ‘viz.: Kref'tius australis, 
the striped gudgeon common in the Nepean River. This fish 
will lie on a rock the colour of itself perfectly motionless, and 
-almost indistinguishable from its surroundings. Amongst the 
frogs is Hyla caerulea, a tree frog, sitting amongst the 
leaves of bushes much the colour of itself. The Ophidia or 
snakes give us some good examples, <Acanthophis an- 
tarctica, the death-adder being one of the best, its colour 
resembling that of a dead stick or the colour of the soil on 
which it les. The common dragon, -Amplhibolurus muri- 
catus, is an excellent type amongst the lizards. It is fre- 
quently seen in gardens, and one of its characteristic situations 
is on a fallen log, the grey colour of which blends with its own, 
rendering it almost indistinguishable. 
Of the birds, the most perfect example I know of is that 
of the Morepork, Podargus  strigoides. The general 
appearance of its plumage being likened to grey bark or a dead 
limb, and to make the resemblance more complete when danger 
threatens, it erects its body to an acute angle with the branch 
on which its rests, and shuts its eyes to just mere slits, when 
it presents an almost perfect resemblance to a broken-off limb, 
the tuft of feathers in front of the bill adding considerably to 
the likeness. 
EXCURSION TO EDWARDS’ BEACH. 
On Saturday, February 9th, an excursion was held to Hd- 
wards’ Beach to study seashore life, under the able leadership 
of Miss Rose Winter. Miss Winter took the party. round on to 
the rock platform, where rock pools were searched. The tide 
was too high to permit of very much collecting, but during the 
afternoon the following specimens were obtained, about each of 
which Miss Winter gave a short, interesting description. 
Mollusca, about high tide level were found a number of 
collections of the tiny blue periwinkle, Melaraphe. This is a 
mos interesting species, as it is a transition form, possessing 
organs for a marine life, but at the same time being possessed 
