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THE JOURNAL OF THE

Tasmonlan Field Naturalists' (Iub.Vol. 1. APRIL, 1907. No. 1.

CYurselves.The Tasmanian lField Naturalists' Club,having been in existence for over twoyea.rs, has felt the need of a journal ofits own, and at the annual meeting inSel!tember, lHOB, it was decided that sucha iot:t'nal should l>e issued, under thetitle of "The Tasmanian Naturalist," thefirst numbw of which now appears. Onec02Y of the journal is to be issued f,'eeto all members whose subscriptions havebeen paid; for those not belonging tothe Club a small chm.'ge is to be made.The journal is intended to deal with

~ a t u r a l History in its widest sense, particular, but not exclusive, attention being paid to subjects of Tasmanian interest.I t is hoped in time that desc.riptionsof new f.orms of life will appear in it spages, but fCl' some time at least th earticles will be of a more Cl' less popular chal'acter, and under arrangementwith the 'p,'oprietors of "The WeeklyCourier," many of them will first appeal'in that widely-.read journal.

Members and Othl'S inte['ested are in vited to contribute, addressing all communications to the editor. Thirty copiesof their papel's will be supplied free toall authors of articles of mOl'e than onepaO'e. Unless for special reasons paperss h ~ u l d not exceed 3000 words in length,and under 2000 aor'e preflled. Shoriparagraphs win also be acceptable.[Previous to the establishing of ourjournal the following papel's were pub

lished fCl' the club:-The Black-Headed Honey-'Eater (withdI'awing), A. E. Brent.Tasmanian Orc'hids (with drawings), L_

Rodway.Club's Camp Out ( w ~ t j J . photographs),E. A. Elliott.Tasmanian Ferns, L. Rodway.The Sc,.-ub Tit, A. L. :EutleeThe Myrtaceae of Tasmania (withphotogoraphs), L. Rodway.

'l.96e ~ O f f i d Q ? : :Jl ~ a m i l y of :R,emarJ(.able Jnseets.By ARTHUR M. LEA, F.E.S., etc. (Government Entomologist,.

Amongst the different orders of insects there are many kinM that areremarkable for their shapes or transformations. But of th e various orders thereis not one which contains species of suchqueer forms, or in which the thanges areso singular, as in the homoptera. Litt'eattention, however, is paid thIS orderhy the majO'rity of naturalists, 'excepthy those officiall.y employed to deal with( 1 )

pests, the reasons being th;'tt thejority of the species are of smallsize, .of sober colours, .and fre-quently difficult to presel'Ve. Theorde.' is comparatively small in numbers, and very fortunately lOO. >ls few 0';them are useful to man, and many arehigh'y destructive. The aphides (including " p h ~ l l o x e r a vastatl"ix," so remarkable on account of its life history ami

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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.for the immense damage it ha s done tothe vineyards of Europe), frogspittle insects, froghoppers, cicachs (frequentlybut erroneously known as locusts) Iantern bugs, lerps, and scale insects ("coodJae"), al l belong to this 'Jrder. I t isonly!, however, with the b s t famiLy thatwe are now concerned. The se,tle insec too2riv'e their name from the tact tho1 ta great many of the species appear likesmaH scaly excrescences on the leave5,bark, or fruit of various plantl'>. Th",family may be . o u g h l ~ divided into t h r ~ esections, the first consisting vf specil'swhich retain their legs during the wholeof their life, the second consisting of spedes in which the legs ar4) lost by onesex anc} scaly coverings (entire'y separat.cd from the insects but serving to protect them) are formed, and the third inwhich the legs mayor may nut. be lost,and which live within WOOcly! e x c r e s c e n c e ~they cause to grow upon the stems ur1eaves of the plants attacked. To tll"first section belong the mealy bugil,cochineal insects, and the cottony cushionscale; the latter was accidentally introduced to California an d elsewhere.and did enCL'mous damage befcn:li t was kept in check by the introduction of it s natura' enemies. Thecochineal insect is one of the very fewuoeful inseds of th e group; t'!i) mealybugs are nearly! aU destrnctivp., but a fclwof the root feeding s'pecies scrYe as"'COWS'" for various kinds of ants. Tothis s e l ~ t i o n also be10ng the "paradise"fiies, a group of insects of which th emales are very bean biful. with t wo finewings, bright red eyes and long tailsof shining, glassy! filaments. The iemalesare much larger, of a dark brown colour,and without wings and tail. Infact, in the whole of th e familythe females are hlways wingles5, andth e males ,winged, when fullg.rown;with some of the species the mllles Yast1ycXlCeed the females in number, whilst inothers the males have never b .en seen.In the stcom) section many ot the accepted definitions of insects do not ho'dgood, for the larva is frequently ofmOi'e perfect shape an d with more sensesthan the adult insect. The section contains more species than the others combined, ana the members of it aJ e knownIt , "armoured" scales, one of them Jeingonly too wen known to Tasmanian orlChardists; this is the introilu{!ed mussel

: S I e a l ~ ("Myltilasipis pomorum"). The females of this species la y egg" whie!lare rl"otected against other insectsand the weather by covedng scales;f.rom the eggs in the summer,aictive 'Larvae ha!bcbed; these larvaeea.;)h possess six \egs, a pair of antell:la'e,anc) a pair of compound ey!es. In thisstage th e sexes cannot be "distinguishea:

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After scurr.ying over the plant attacked(usually the :apple) in search of a suitab'le place to settle, one is selected, andthe larva inserts its rostrum in to thehark or fruit to suck np It s juooes; itgrows rapidly, forming a proteeting s c a i ~over itself as it Oavelops, an d ~ o o n completely ~ o s e s it s legs, eyes, and f.,ntenna'e;with the female these ar e never regained.The male not only regains them, but ohtains a pair of wings as we],; he loseshis sncking apparatus, howev,

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THE TASMANiAN NATURAList.Perh,ps the most remul'ku1Jle of al l teegallforming insects are the spc:-ies ofFrelWliia (a genus named after the genialVictorian entomologIst), the species oi

wlrlch attack the casuarin

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THE TASMANIAN NATURALISt.

E- The enclosed gall insect of Cylindrococcus.mother's gall, they wander over the bark,an d finally settle !lown; here they ..ausegalls to form, the galls in time com

p l e t e l ~ l covering them. The gRlls continue to gr'ow, anI(} eventual\y freJm themialle of each g ~ l l l a cyllildrical woodygrowth appears, which may be readilydetached. Meanwll'lle changes have beenbkittg pllWe in the insect itsrlf; it . o s e ~it s legs, antennae, anc\ eyes, an,1 evenmouth parts (henceforth n('elving itsnourishment through Its skin b;y the process known as osmosis), and appearsat! a lit tic b r o w n i o h - ~ ' e c l o b ~ e c t , ofir:regula,r tihape, but having a ,;l1Ial!node at its 'lOwer cnd, al1Ll a ~ . J l ' t of thicktail at oue side. As growth c o n t i n u ~ " .the tail becomes thinner an.:} increases iulellgth, extending almost the wtLOle lengthof the cylindrical woody grJwt!l; its boitom also bec(}tllcs :llmost . ~ a l l , ~ t ! l ' shapeli,but still w'ltl:J the small'wde, which i"fitted into a depression of the wood; it i; ,l\mbtless at. this stage 1ha t rrairillcih!.kes p ~ a l C e . Lltter on the taH collapse,bfllods over, allll appears fltte,l to .a r l ) ~movable c.:1P, which is jolne,] to the bodybJl an irregular suture-much aa the sutures between the bones of the humanskull. The bOl2y itself is now shapedl-lke a wad, an d on removing the cap thetop can be seen to Ibe completely covered -by fine concentric ring" with a ,smallopening in the centre, from which theyoung can nearly always be seenescaping. A heavy coating of whitemealy substance is always attachedto the walls of the enclosing galls,

whilst the insects are healthy, butwhen these are attacked by parasites, at! is often the case, this substallJCe dolsappears. When full fed, the10 wer portion of the gall is completel)1fillec\, and doubtless gives to the insectits peculiar wac\-like shape. The treesattaY.)ked by these insects are oftenkilled by them, and the gaHs are frequently to be seen in i m m e n ~ c r.umbers.Common as the females are, t.Jle Imllenever yet been Klescribed, anJ: has prob'-tbly never been seen, although it haske-enly been searehet't for; it will probab!.y be mueh the same, however, as llIallY

o t h e r ~ of the famUy. Brieflv sUlllluedup, the life histoQl of tltis i!1i:ect, 1'1'0-b'lllly the l l lOst remarkable II I AU8tr,,'.ia.i f not in the whole worlel, i" as follolVs: '

1. llJl'll in possession of six legs twocO.lllpounci eyes, a pair of ,1lItcllnae', \tne!WIth mouth puts .2. Att:tcks bark, and ca'lSl'S (;Oi!lpOunclgalls to form.3. G:.lius a tail, but loses 'H;; jegs, l l ! l '

tcnnae, eyes, al1c\ mouth part,'; at thhlsbge completely cut off from tile outerall'. From now on w,1I'ch nourishecithrough its skin.. 4. Again changes Its shape, ~ l l d greatlyllJcreases the length of its tail, ~ g a i n becoming connected with the o11ter a4r.5. Again changes it s shape bil becomessemi-detached from the body, the uppersurfa.ce of which is marked by numerQUSconcentric rings.

6. Females aibundant; male unknQwn.

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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.Another highly remarkable genus, thespEcies of which also form gnlls on she,oaks, is OylindrocOlCCus, Ihc spec-les ofthis genus are fairly numerous I I I Aus

tralia and Tasmania, but of ~ \ m e is themale known, In a common Tasmaniansperies the height of abSlll'dity inshape appears to he l ' e a ~ h e d . Afterthe first stage the insect is not fixed, butcapable of moving up and u)wn Usgall. I t h:-ls no rostrum, and l'eceives aI 'its nourishment through it s s l ~ i n (in partof the s e ~ o n d stage it a , p p e ~ U " s tc be at bched by! the whole top :-If ha head tothe b,lse of the gal1). The antennaeo,re present, hut are little more than twofeebly pointed projections. There areno eyes. There are three l)-"irs of l e g ~ ,each apparently without claws (few other'lnsects with legs are known in whichtheSe are not terminated by ('laws); tilefront pair are the s m a l ~ e s t , anr! are narrow and produced; the hind l )l i l - are muchlarger, and are bladc\3r like, whilst themicld1e pair are mlllCh larger still Thefront and hind legs appear to be corn

p o ~ e d of only one part, insti'l1d of five(coxa, 'tl'OOhantar, femur, tibia, and! 'barsus), whilst the middle are composed oftwo. The legs moreover, alter 4n proportion, as the insect grows. The hinderparts of the body are c\othcci with lonctgolden hairs. The whole insect, hOW':e,-er, is so densely clothed wit'hwhitish meal that until this is re-

moved the different parts cannot beclearly seen. A r,emarkahle feature ofthis 1nsect is the fact that when attackecl hy parasites it appears to growmuch more rapidly, and to a much largersize than when healthy. The proof ofthis is that in the galls deod coccids may,frequently be seen that have becomebloated to four or five times their normal size, and e x a c t ~ y filling the galls forthe greater part of thdr , length; whenSoO bloated the legs can be traced withgreat

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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.express our thanks for, and have placedon recor.'d, the whole-heau,fed in tl'estyou have taken in the ,club's welfare .Y.ou kindly undertook t'he chairmanshipof th e Club at its inception, and it", presoent successful standing is due in latgc

m e a S l : ~ ' e to the scientific ability you displayed as its leader. The members willlong remember your usefulness, and hopt:that in the wider circle you returning to thefcL'mation, g,['owth, and scientific endeaVOUl'S of the Tasmanian FieldNaturalists' Club will be a source ofpleasure to you in hours of revfL'ie.-We

at'e, dear sir, yours very truly, on behalfof members, Samuel Clemes (chairman).E. A. Elliott (hon, secretary). ToGel'ard Smit'h, ' 'Esq., :lI.R.C.S" L.S.A.,etc., 'Hobm:t."Dr. Smith eXf['esse(l his pleasure atreceidng this letter from his fellolY,

members, and said he regretted verymuch leaving them, and envied them thebeautiful collecting gl'ounds of Hobart.His connection with the Club had beenvery enjoyable, and i f he had been ofany'service 'he lYas glad.

Mare6 Meeting.The monthly meeting of the Club washeld in th e Masonic Hall on the 7thMarch. M.r, J. Edgar Smithpl.'esided, andthere was a good attendance.Ma'. P. Lockwood, Nile, was elected amember of the club.

. A specimen, gL'owing in a, pot, of a fernnew to Tasmania was shown by }1r. L.Rodway, Government IBotanist, sent fromDuck: R i w ~ r , N.E. Tas., by Mr. K. Harri.son. Fronds Ol ' leaves only had previously been sent, and had already beel!exhibited befn'e the Club, when Mr. Rodway ,had conside.red it to be PolypodiumHillii, but with whoIe plants to hand herecognised i t as p. pennigerum, hithdoonly found in New Zealand, and nowmaking two species of ferns found inTasmania and New Zealand and nowhereelse. The sewetary 'CMr. E. A. Elliott)exhibited a live young black swan (Chenopsis atrata) about eight weeks old,which he had obtained from tl1e SwanRiver. This bird attracted considerableattention fl'om those present, and made

its p ~ p i n g call frequently thl:oughout themeetmg. I t was eov! cd WIth down ofa d-a.rk fawn ;COIOD\', . the under surfacebeing lighter. -Mr. A. M. I , e ~ , Government Entomologist, exhibited some casesof showy moths and butterflies f ~ ' o mQueensland an d India, and some. of the8mallest beetles found in Tasm,tma. ~ l r ,J. E. Smith showed some curious "faulted pebbJ.es" obtained from Scotland.:Mr. A. L. Butler then read a paperon "'HiL'd Life," written by Mrs. H. L.Robel ts , of {Bmumaris, and which appears in this issue.Dl'. F, N oetling, Ph.D., g,tYe a leeh.ul'ette on th e g'eological form,l tions atSouth Brid

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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.Mr. T,ylney Cotton, two others, andmyself started in a whaleboat to reaCllthe banks In Moulting Lagoof., 25 mile,tlistant, where th e shooting takps place.In an hour or two we crossed the barof the Swan River, which W'l', Ililffieultto filll\ as it is ahvaYl3 shallow and shif:.it s position. The tide \ Y a ~ runnin6strong'ly out of Moulting Lagoon ttclose to them. When disturbeo theyflew Mgh in the nil', and the:r hrge b i l i ~and throats could !be distinctly noticed, Thepelicans wel'e 'formerly mCl'e numerous,and through being seen a t certain pl'aces ( 7 )

more frequently than a t others, tilt)name " P e l l l ~ a n Hocks" has bepn given toa ridge stretching ncross dte mouth 01Pelic,tn R1Y, one of the fir:;'; bays m,'tin sailing up Swan River. P.,itlcan :Betyis on the north-east side of Sw,)n .t{iye,,a nU: here Ithe fll'si hlru:ik siwans (Chell'opiitatr:lt.t) were seen. On other s'Jrleof the ril'er a few miles higher ;]f;is King's Bay, extenc\ing probablyfor some four miles at lea&t. Thewhole shor2 Lt King'" B.ty was lined.fairlv thickly With swans and this bavis o;ly one 'of many w h ~ r e these bIrdsare to be tc.und in numbers. AboveKmg's Bay, .Moulting Lagoon narrowssomewhat, being perhaps two milesbroad, and here is th e lower bank, 10miles from th e mouth of Swan River.This bank is under about 18in. of water- t he navigable channel being in themiddle-ani the swan shooT,en line thebank from shore to shore, standing inth e water. There were many wild ducksof various species about, and very l:trgeflocks of them were seen. During tht:'shooting on the opening da y they wereflying oV

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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.the water when flying (never acro,;"land), they must pass over the "guns"i f the bird. flv in their direction. Theboats were taken back into the channel,'and I stayell ill the whnleboat, as thutwa;; 'di l l be.t spot to witne.,s the proceedings frolll. Birds were already Jly-ing-sometime. only one, or tw o andthree together; sometimes in flocks oftwenty 01 ' thirty. At other time,; theywould come in I'ery big flocks, and bycounting 100 birds, then taking an approximately equal number further alongthe line. this total (:WO) being repeatedin like m:lllner, it would soon be foundthat there were at least from 1000 to1500 swans in one flight. The shootingwas mostly over by 1),30, and during th i .!time many flocks flew pas't, although itwas said la tl'" that the birds did not flywell on that day. How many swansthere were on the wing (which onlyformed a small part of the countlessl1umbers left in the bays) would 'be :JB-yond my preilent mean., of even guessing-suffice it to say '[here were manythousands. When a flock is flyingthe black bodies of "the swans do notshow ou t against the dark backgroun,lof the hills, but only the large feat henof the wings (the primaries and secon'daries), which are white, and the bird:;are therefore c:llled in 'that part "whitllwings"-a name I have not heard applied to them elsewhere. Sometimesthese primaries are shaded with black.and one qnite black swan has been seen.On the other lmnd, two birds quite whiteha Ye been seen there-probably albinospecimens. Fnll-grown swans measureabout 4ft. Uin. from bill to end of tailand 6ft. Gin. from tip to tip of outstretched wings, but t.hey vary considerably. Actual measurements of two are:- ( a ) Bill to tail, 4ft. 6in.; tip to ti p ofwings, 5ft. Wirr.; each wing, 2ft. Hin.(b) Bill to tail, 4ft. lin.; 'tip to tip ofwings, 6ft. 7in.; each wing, 2ft. llin. Tenswans which were killed on this occasionwere weighed, and the average was13.6lb., but they vary in weight fromIOlb. to nearly 201b' Mr. Cotton saidthe he,wiest 'bird he had weighedwas ll)ilb. I t is a curious factthat 'the large primary feathers of theseswans come out at a slight pull, as instretching their wings to mea\;they are coming to the gun.,. Flyillgwith a good breeze they wiU travel atthe rate of 60 to 80 mile$ Cl!} hour, sothat it Is not of much use r,o fire whenthey have passed. Those a c , m ~ t o m e l l Loswan shooting aim some 15 ()r 20 feet:ahead of the birds, A record wasestablished on this occasion by aswan being shot 'dead at 120 yuds rangewith 10 shot gun, and, a fio,'t anothertime five b'lrds were seen to dropinto the water simultaneously, Whatendless ways they fal' through the air!Sometimes when killed outright at a gooj

e ~ e v a t i o n they hit the water wlth a loudsplash, making the spra,y fly, 50metlmesturning over and over, or n ~ a i ! l fallingas if they would shun the lV:lter. being}(,th to leave their flight, anl\ WCould dropslowly to the surface. The spent shotdropped in the watel' with a constantpatter,sometimes hitting the boats or fall-

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THE t ASMANiANin g round the sportsmen. When swans arC)hit hard, but not killed outright, th3Y'fiy with motionless, ~ l i g h : t l y droopingwings ever nearer the surh,!:. of the,water, sk'lm over i t fo r i t l.)f,g way, am!then settle, perhaps t wo m i ~ e s a way,am} swim fnrther on. I counted eIght ,)1'tell that thus got out of i:'ight. I twas said that th e ' rousers" when returJlin g woult! pick them up. At ~ . 3 0 a.m. them'ljority ceased firing, amI {'mgged theirImds to the boats. where t.hey weredivided-some shooters having been ouc-dassed in guns an d skill Intii In t a singleIYkJ, while several shot many nore th;lllthey needed, so that 110 dead birds were left.!Jhiud, am} all were made 1We of. .Lnthis resped these sportsmen prov,;tlt b ~ l I l s e l v e s true, and were (;(mient whenthey had shot as many ;'inl..,as theycould e a s i ~ y dispose of, alrhough ktdthey ben bent upon s l a u g h ~ H , by staYl-in g the day, many monl must have beenkilled. During the rest o! the SeaS)llth" few small p:uties that go tl>re 0shoot largely irucreases, there does ,notappear to be mruch likehh:)O'.! of t h , ~numbers of these birds being lroa teriallYl

NATURAList.reduced by this means. There is a t'eaI da!lge.r, llOwever, in the large numbers of eggstuken every season by fishermen an.,!'tocal resilknts. Thousands lHe spnt t.,)Melb(}urne confectioners. i f VIgorQUSaction was taken in e n f o o c j I l ~ tHe Ipenalty for having an egg ,) i th e blacks wan in one's possession, then f,here wouldcertainly be no fear of t.his beautifulhirJ. ever becoming extinct in Iasmania,01 ' even becoming less in ;1'.HU ':le.s ThehirJs nest in the shallows, and cggs maybe found uurlng nine or !e l :months ofthe .year. On the way both "P and downth,c river cygnets were secn. mnging inag e from a few weeks' old upwards.When of full size the young" lVa!Js remainfor some time una b\e to Ii v as their/Hght fe'lthl's are the last to "graw; theyare most prized fo r the tabh, i fthey can be obtained when at this stagp.In moulting, the primaries a p p ~ a r to beshed at th e one time, so th.J,t, the birdsare unable to fly; these :lI'e term.:>d"moulters," and it is a common pract1ceto row or sail after these to capturr,them. Parents of youn'>' bir"s bUild[bring the open season ar"e not shot.they keep with their young, :lnd do notfl y fa r from them, even on Lhe approachof a boat. They do not job, until labr .the large flocks which are "hot at 'durin

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THE tASMANiAN NATURAlist.foul" or five miles down the water wasseen to be covered with feathn's.which Paocific gulls had torn frOII, a C.YP n,Wl:;hing to capture a l i t L ~ c 'Wgnet, oneof a PHty of three or I.Jur swimminghi front of the boat, was singlec\ out,ailll as i t was l'Ilpidly gaineo upon, tb.ubird was soon lifted from the water - ~ n Jplaced in the boat. On lJP,i:lg' broughtto Hoklrt it became eXJCeildinglYl tame,and eviucntly enjoyed life, in jpss thanfh'c weeks ga'lning in weig1lt from libIOoz. to over 41h. When callght it8upposet! to be about four weeks o'td,an d a photo of it (reproullcet! in theillustrated section) was ~ a k ( ; n a\ ce!,aftr. The billsano eyes of young [wansore bbek, but change to ret! htnI. When

the feathers are plucked from a blackswan i t tllen looks snowy white,the o:1own not being attached to thefeathers but separate. With the youngcapture'cl bird it was noticed that thenest down with which many youngoirdsare 1C0vered on hatcMng from the shdlt!id no t give place to feathers, which Istiw general rule, but to the true down,ant! the feathers appear later. This downwas not white, but a fawn colour. Wearrived at Kelve(\Jn again I'n rioayafternoon with some of the swans. _nefolio wing day I started on the returnto Hou:ut, after having witilessed int hose large flocks of m a g n i f i l ~ e n t bi:,.1s oneof th e finest s'lghts of its Kind, and longmay it remain.

1:Jisf of :1Ilembers.*Anthol1v E :-;; lWzabeth an d Ihvpvstre;t's, H o b ~ r t . '*Atkins, C. J . Audleysheet, Hobad.*Atkins, W. N., ~ I o o n a h .Atkinson, R. H., Ft'iends' High S c h o o ~Hohad.

BaylltoJl, H. J., Bo,t Vl,;ta-roatl. NorthHobart.*Beattie, J. W., Elizahethstreet, Hobaort.Beedham,11iss, vV'arwicks:tr.eet, Hobart.Bcedh,tlll, Lo, Walwick-street, Hobart."'Bell, 11iss, Lindisfarne."'Black, R. A., Dept. Agriculture, Hobart.Boxall. J., clo 1lessrs. Bn'gess P, os.,Hob:trt. -*Brpnt, A. K, A u ~ t i n " ; Ferry.HHH\' l le 11 , F. L.. Stoke,trpet, Hob:U't."'Hutler, A. L., 11ul'ray-street, l Iok. t.Cato. \Y. C . I.'loUds D ~ p t . , D l\eystreet.Ch"]llllell, H. C. D . Swanf;treet. Hob:ll't."'{,ll'mes, S . Le"lie Hou,.;('. Ne,,' Town.*Colbollrn, H.. ., ('oullcil of .\gl'icult:r-e,Hobmt."'Conlon, A., COllncil of Agriculture,

Hob'll't."'Cook, J. V .. D:lln:1.iustrcpt, Hobart.Crookall, W., Smithstreet, Hoba.rt.

D'EllHlen, F.ank, 1ft. Stuart, Hohart.D'Emden, Thos., Mt. Stuart, Hobart.Dove, H. Stuart, DeYOllport West.Duthoit, N., Bellerive.

*EII!ott, O. H., H i g h - ~ I . e e t , Hohat"t.*Elhott, E. A., High-street, Hobal't.*Gibson, Dr. G., Macquariestreet, Hobart

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"'Ha.rcourt, Alec., rystreet, Hobart.Hardcastle, :cr'. C., 1Iltcquariestreet.,Hobart.*Harrison, M. \V., Glenrr:chy.Ha'vey, R. C., ) L 1 c q u a ~ i e s t r e e t , Hobarl.

Irvine, }liss, Friends' High School,Hobart.Johnson, J. A., Training 'College, Hobart.*Johnston, R. 111., LlS.O., GovernmentStatistician, Hobart.Ke.rmode, M i ~ s D., "Oorol1

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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.*Penny, G. C., Lands Dept., Hobart.Pies se, 'K L., BaY'I'o,td, Hobart."Philp. J. E., Battery Point, Hobart.Pitfield, L., Glebe Town, Hobart.*Pitman, C. A., Landi! Dept., Hobart.

""Pitman, C. B., ,Lands Dept., Hobart.*Pottenge,l', H. Lo, 265 Dav'eY'str-eet,Hobart.Pretyman, E. H., Sitll'ily ,Bay, Hobart.*Rpid, A. R., LiIerpool,treet, Hobiut.Roberts, M,s. H. 1.., Beallmaris, BatteryPoint, Hobart.Robey, }fiss, Fed'Talstreet, Hobart."Rod way, L., Ylacquariestreet, Hobad.Simpson, T. C. Holebrook Place, Hobart."*8im80n, Aug., High-st,reet, Launceston.

"'Smith, Dr. G., London."'Smith, J. E., Friends' High School,Hobart.Stephens, A. ~ \ . , Lansdowne Crescent,'Hobart.Tarleton, J. W., Sandy Bay, Hobart.Tlib." I t , jun., :\Iurraystreet, Hobart.Walpole, S., Union Bank, Hobad.WalkE(', B. Rtndy Bay, Hobart.*Watchorn . A .0., Battel:y Point, Hobart.Wa.l'dman, J., Botanic Gardens, Hobart.Watson, H., Sandy Bay, Hobart.*vYhite, .\., IBroomhill, Mangalore.Woolley, C. E., Lindi,.sfarne. _Wright, C., Trinity Hill State School,Hobart.

t96e :J3reeding J-{abits of:J3ronzewing ~ i g e o n sBy MARY G. RDBERTS, M.A.S.E., M.A.D.U.

(The bird", inre de,alt with are our oommon hronz,ewing (lPhaps chalcoptera)and) ,th:e crelSlted br.mwewinlg of Ne wSou.th Wale" (Dcyphaps lophotes).)Jn my aviaries, whn'e these y a r i e t i c ~iuv,e been kept ,se'as,on af,ter ,s;ea,son underrxa.ctly ,the same 'coonditiol1S, I find thetime of year in w h i ( i . ~ they begin tolJUilll, and the period nesting -last,;,vdry consid,erably; influenced, no d o u b ~ ,by ,the severity ,or 'obherwise of weathercondition:;,. 'E1or inJSltance, in 1904 they bothbegan t,o lay in July and! .A:ugust, an dooth s'alt five times a,nd earried on hreeding O'peroa,tjoILs until ,quite the end of

Ma rcll. J,t is alrrrO's,t needLesls ,to say thatall the eggs were nll't haotd .ed, nor al lthe young I-ea red; in one inls,tance a pairof ,QUI' .own bronzewing;s fell from tlhenest and d!ied when a few days .old, andd.rrot.her time one egg was laid and forgak"m. Some uuto'W,ard circumst,ance011&0 befell thecre.s'ted variety, andl, Lrammy eXlperi,ence, I c.onclude tha,t threetimes n,e,st'ing in one season would be thenormal .or outsiue number. In ,the IollO'wiuO' veal' (l'!)05) O'perations commenced,tiIJ e':'a;lie'r, /lnd, to my ,surprise, O'n JuneZi I. found! egg.s in the neist .of tbe NewSoUtil Wales emst'ed, and! ,twO' day:;, laterin that of our common brO'nze-wing. Therea ~ ' e many disappointments in avicultn:e,the

c ~ ' e s t ' e d bronze wings deserted the nestowing ItO being disturbed.dluri.ng ,sonie al tenvtion:;, -to the aviary, and ,the Y'0ung ofour bTonzewings hatched out only to fallvict.ims ,too 'U sudden and ,severe ehange oftempera,ture. The hen nested again atth'e end! of AUgUSit, but on: S e ~ t e m b e r ,l6heavy fall 'ofS'now wa.s ,responsible for(11 )

Ll1e l . ~ a t h of one squab; next morning theother died" and ,the foUDwing momingthe mo,tller-a matter of keen regret tome, as during her ,short aruCb iruterClSltinglife iHdJ engraf.ted very much pleal:lureintO' mine. The last .se'a"O'.n (1906) wa"mnlb later ,than usual, .owing ,to thefrequent. andJ intermittent OIInowstormswhi,:h fell upon the mountain up ito thebeg:nning of Decembe.r. The bird.s ,show-2d HO sign of ne,sting until October, andit was X ovember befO'I1e the first 'COlmmonbl'onz{'wing Wia3 ,ha,tched; It,hey were notonly' later ill! hegi.nning, but earlier inleaving .O'ff, .and by t l l ~ e n d ,of Nlovem'bect h i . . ~ y!tl'ie,ty had lfinished, ,the result beingtw'O young frO'm the 'fiI1st nesting, andom, frO'm the s'econd,; .the cres,ted varietylud: be'gu.IlJ somewha,t earlie.r. I t ha,,,, b&..'ni t gl'ea,t pl'ea.sn.re t'o me watching tl'Je nesli;!ng O'pera-tioILs,of ,truese two -varietiesbeing carried on s,imultaneously, aIUlIoucrhdenizen;! of d'iffe'l'Cll't states. In 5pewk.ing to cOll'ntry re,side.nts, ,they invm'ialilytell me that Ghrisltm!LS is the he.st time't'oobtain yO'ung b i ~ d ' 9 , buJt I 'fail till' a'gree)YitllL them, a,s the ra,et" which J Ihaye

g i y ~ ' n pl'oYe the oppo.site. They mayp l ' l ) h a h l ~ - ,",ee more birdl, about duringt in t tim2, as, doubtle,ss eiUl3r foOl' worklH' plp .. sure ithey ram:ble in th e hushll1uch more frequently in ,summer tha

7/30/2019 TasNat 1907 Vol1 No1 WholeIssue

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THE TASi\1ANIAN NATURALIST.the rapid g w w t i ~ of ,thoe squabs, is no

tonger able to pwtect Ithem hom t'hecoM; hence I have found Ithem d'ead inthe l lorningon more than one occasbon.f ba-ve .an idiea Ithat by removing !theyoung 'ones to Ithe hous'e during toelIigM, when a sudd\:!n tall ,of temperaturet,ake.s pllwe,these d'isa,Sltrousre,sults might00 arverted. I B e s ~ d e . s Ithese two varieties.[ have many othe'rs, induding the brushbI'o,nze!wing ,(IPlmps e.legane), ~ v h i c h i,g nowalmost u n o h t a ~ n a b l e , a n d which is ithoughtby English aviculturists much handwm('rthan the '(lommoner variety, ,the W,onga'Vonga I(ll,eooo,;jaroia pieata) olf !NewS.outh 'Wiales, w'ell known for its ,sizeand a,s hein:g tbe posse,ssor of w b ~ t e fie.S1b;the lParltridge iboonze\wiing (GeophapsSoCript,a), commonly called the squat ter-the only remaining white-fiesh Y.ariety,and considered by Gould ,the most deliciolls of all pigeons; the iplumed grounddove (IGe'oIplu:ps. :plumi'fera), the la,tter oneof the mos!t a,ttractive .of bird,,; hoth ofthpse breed upon th c gronnd, and

believed to he a connprtillg" linl;:be'tween the partridge and ,tIN) pigeon;the young leaves the nest, if not a,s ealrlya,s quail, much eRlrlier ,than pigeons d'o;t'he 1'it'tle green ,pige'on '(Ohalocophal);; chry

, ~ o c h l o r a ) , .of New .south Wales, a cbarminogbird of .small size, w1tb lwi:ght green,vings and Vina{le.ous breasit,' also the.Tava neckLace and white Barbarv doves.Botb t,hese varieties have bred '; 'ith me,,md I hope to 'acclima,t1se th e fDrmer,f{)r it is evidently hardy, is now verycommon about the swburhs of Syd,ney,andconstantly ItO he heard CODing fromthe pine t r e e ~ . The bird m ar aho belIfen ,about the J.a,wns, or often fped,ing,vioth the .sparro'Ws from any .seedh{)xthat is near alt hand. I had Un illli.siortune ,to lose '" pair {If crowned NewGuinea pigeons (Goura ID"A,J'Iwrtisi), eplpbm,ted' bOlth for size and beauty. Thispig'eon i.s of a light ;s11a te C . O l ~ U l , withrich maroon hreast. Otber di,stingui,shingtea,tnres ,aTe br:i.gh-t red! eyes .and a largeran-.shclped crest. r,t]" heliewcl in NewGuinea that in capitvitv the . lo.se al lprid!e in this remnrklahle' d o r ~ l l l e n ' t , but;;uch is not the 'case, a:s I DI'equentlv noticed that w:hen ,si,tting on ,thp groundl.b,ey found occupation in dms,sing- withtl)e beak the crest 'of eae.h o,tlwr. Toe'finer oOf the 'ttwO' .feU '[\, vie-Um toOthe 'biad ite'mipeT 'of a Siilvpr pheasant.Her companion, alw,ays a d, .1iC'ate hird.died from na,tuml cause". I l I a n ~ nevercea,sed to grieve oOver my los>;, fiS und,erpr'esentcondlitiollos there is littlf' chance

As autumn app,roaches man." scarlet- \hreasted r o b i n ~ (IPetroeca Leggii) maketheir way from t'he bush into till' gardens .( 12)

of having ,them replaced. The Government 'of 'British New Guinea b.1;; noOw aprotec-tive poOlicy with regard toO the:sel>irdlS" and will no:t allow ,them ,to he exporbed. I und'erstand t tn t the onlychaIl!ce would he ,to' try for ,them in Germ.an New Guh:.}a. I.n thinking over them.erits of these differen t varieti,e.s ,thereis none I think ,sO' ,charming to 'keep.nor more wor.thy .of {lur ad!mimti'on inmany way,s, than our COmlIlJOn bronzewing. It ,bs not necess.ary ,to (lonsider ,thewaJls 'of the allits 'only t,O' find wisdlo.m;we (lan .obtain and ma,ny o,ther le.ssons,by makiIl!g ourselves famiHar with thehabit.s and doispO'siti'o'll of ,these lird,s.lh e cO'ck e,peci,ally i,s, worthy of notice;,as soon a,51 we hear him cooo-ing to a,t'tract the attention of his ma,te we knowtha,t nesting {I.pematioon& aJ'e abDut tobegin, and! by wa.tching :we sO'on see 'him.tiying from place ,to iplac,e in ,search of ag'ood ,foundlJ,tion ,to huild upon. As soonas tbi,s' impor,tant ma,tter is, ,settled, andalthough ,the nes,t at Ifill1stis wmposed'of ,a few twigs or .small ;,tick" only, eachone is carefully .t.e,s:t'ed before 'being ,takenup, a ne! I l:lllv'e 'often been "urpris'ed to,see hDW many have been rejede(l a'sunsuitable. [During incubaition, ,and afterw;:trch, I have 'of,te,n seen them ,addingfresh material, a,s i f too enhan'ce ,the comfor,t and s,ecurity of ,tbEl abode. Doe" not,all ,this Ishow a gr,ea,t ,amDunt of intelligence and! reasoning power? iBey'oml thisthe birds al"e bra ve in defence ofthe eggs and young, both before and,after hatching. A,Lthough I have oftentri.ed, I have never . s u ~ e d e d in driving

t h ~ m from the nest-ei,ther parent wouldfiip handW'ith his or bel' wing. andwith fiashinlg 'eye 'Utter a note .of disapproval with all ,the voice it could oommand. I always turned! ,awaY' vanquished.but with increased adimJirat.ion I()f theirb r a v e r ~ ' . When feeding w ~ t l ' : J iJ:oe pheasant-s I have n{)ticed them attempt t()shrike the la.tter with their wings, :which,sho\\18 HIem too be possessed of a goodamount of courage. 'At the pres'ellit ,timeln e,ffort is being made by the Avicultural S o c i p t ~ " 'of England.too introducehoLjo, varieties of ,these pig>eons into theipublic pal,k,s a.bout ,London, but I dDubtif our h.-onze-wing will lend itself to aeclimntiila,tion in .