Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Friday 26 November 1909, page 4


NATURE NOTES AND QUERIES.

By DONALD MACDONALD.

BLACKFELLOWS' BREAD.

The slice of underground fungus sent by "Woodles" (Emerald) is known as "black fellows' bread," but I cannot at the mo-ment give the botanical name. In its younger state it was eaten by the blacks, and is one of the truffles, which are perhaps the best of the edible fungus.

SWALLOWS ON STEAMERS.

Mr. Arthur French sends an interesting note: — "On board the boats J.C.D. and Tanjil, on the Mitchell River, at Bairnsdale, swallows have built their nests, and are rearing their young. They follow the boats daily to the Lakes Entrance and the Tambo, feeding their young en route. They do not seem at all surprised at their movable

home."

A LIVING BUNYIP.

Mr. A. J. Campbell (Armadale) writes: — "The mysterious bunyip has been seen at last by two members of my own family. My daughter returned from the Grampians last week, and reports that two seal-like amphibians have been seen in the Black

Swamp, near Pomonal. With a few local friends, who were picnicking on the green meadows 'neath the redgums by the lagoon, she distinctly saw, about 25 yards away, a rounded seal-like head appear above the surface of the water among the scanty reeds. The appearance caused intense sur-prise and excitement among the party. My son (Mr. A. G. Campbell), who was further round the swamp, immediately took one of the horses, riding it up to the girths in the water, and observed what appeared to be a second animal swimming before him.

"In the meantime it is hoped that local sportsmen will not molest the interesting creatures, whether common sea seals (a hundred miles from their element) or bunyips. Moreover, as the swamp (which at present is landlocked) nearly dries up at summer, Mr. Short, or the Exhibition trus-tees, might think it worth while to attempt to capture the animals. A 'veritable bun-yip' at the Aquarium would undoubtedly be

a draw."

SHEEP AND SNAKE. "B.S.," writing from Murgheboluc, via Geelong, mentions a curious trick of sheep in dealing with a snake, which was witnessed by the whole family. It was noticed that the sheep formed a ring, trot-ting around in a circle head to tail. Sud-denly one sheep jumped from the ring to the centre with its four feet bunched to-gether, then quickly back to its place again. Another followed the example, and so it went on for some time. Finally, the sheep broke up, and moved away. On examining the spot they were surprised to find a freshly killed snake, with its head and part of its body smashed to a pulp from the strokes of the sheep's feet. Their track when ringing about the snake was very clearly marked. The writer only saw this snake-killing feat once, though on two sub-sequent occasions she saw the same ring marks in the paddock.

YOUNG MOPOKES.

"M.M." (Toorak) found a young mopoke under a tree. It had evidently fallen from the nest, which is usually very shallow, and placed on a bare limb or open fork. The young bird was taken home, and fed with finely chopped raw meat. As soon as it can fly strongly the writer intends to set it at liberty. It is inconvenient to feed the bird at night. Meat is good emergency food for many kinds of birds, though I fancy that the mopoke feeds largely on moths,

beetles, and other night-flying insects, with perhaps an occasional mouse or frog, like

the owls.

THE TOORAK NIGHTINGALE.

The bird mentioned by "Naturalist"

(Toorak), a beautiful whistler, is either the butcher bird or the grey thrush. If it has a distinct ring around the neck, white breast and dark back, and the whistle is mellow and round it is the butcher bird. If slate-

grey, with a reddish tinge near the neck, it is the grey or harmonious thrush, which has a sharper note, with a sort of finishing whip to it. They call the bird the Toorak nightingale.

AN UNKNOWN BIRD.

"W.J.S." (Riddell) sends a sketch of a bird found with its wing broken. Although injured, it soon got accustomed to captivity, and took grubs or worms from the hand. Its movements were quick and restless. De-scription: — Size of a starling, the colour black, with a lustrous sheen of green. The breast and neck were covered with small

white dots, and the wings beautifully pen-cilled with silver-grey. The beak is bright orange, and large for the size of the bird;

legs, feet, and toes yellow, with a pro-nounced hind claw.

The rough sketch suggests a bird like the Drongo, the beak and legs might be those of a blackbird, but I cannot fit all the details to any particular bird. Others may be able to place it.

FOR SNAKEBITE.

"Myrtle" (Snowy River) says: — "I hear so many suggestions for treating snakebite that I am in doubt as to what is best. Snakes are plentiful here, and I am always in dread lest the children should be bitten. What would you recommend as the best simple remedy to use until the doctor can

be consulted?"

Reply. — I can only say that if I were in the same position I would keep in some place well known to the whole household the Lauder-Brunton lancet. It costs only a shilling, has a little lance in one end, a box (with screw lid) at the other end, filled with permanganate crystals. You tie a liga-ture tightly above the fang marks, cut through them with the lancet, which should be very sharp, and, having wet the per-manganate crystals slightly so as to melt them, rub the liquid into the wound. Printed instructions are sent with the lancet, which you may get from Watson and Sons, Swanston-street, Melbourne.

NAMES OF GRASSES.

Can any botanist supply "No Trumps"

with the botanical names of the grasses known as "Coffee," "Shivery," and "Fairy"?

CENTIPEDES AND THEIR YOUNG.

"Idalia" (Toorak), referring to the con-troversy about snakes swallowing their young, says that centipedes seem to do the same. They unearthed a centipede with 17 young ones, and placed them on a spade. In a little while the young ones disap-peared, either into the mother's mouth or near it.

Reply. — I think closer examination would have revealed the young ones clustered underneath the mother, sheltered by the legs and body.

EELS AND HORSEHAIR.

In reply to "Eel-Fisher" (Maffra), there

was an old-fashioned belief that the horsehair

placed in water turned into eels, but there

is nothing in it. They spawn in salt water only, in the same way as other fishes.

"DONKEY-LIKE FACES."

A correspondent sends the advance pages of an ambitious American work, known as the Home Educator. The sample note on birds deals curiously enough with our Laughing Jackass: — "In the Zoological Gar-den of Melbourne, Australia, are strange-looking birds resembling small owls with donkey-like faces. These birds are called laughing jackasses. They perch together in rows, and look as if they were very much amused over something. Presently one of them says 'Ha!' which is repeated by the others until the entire row seems perfectly convulsed with laughter, and people stand-ing by laugh with the birds until the tears run down their cheeks, and they are

doubled up by their paroxysms."

LOSS OF POSSUM'S FUR.

E. M. Shaw (Abbotsford) mentions that a young possum kept as a pet, and fed on bread and milk, is losing the fur under its neck, though there is no sign of disease. The fur on a possum generally thins out in summer, and thickens and improves with the return of cold weather. Possums are very fond of all kinds of raw vegetables and

fruits. I would suggest a change of food.

BEETLE AND EGG-BALL.

Mr. W. H. Scott, of Box Hill, in refer-ring to the uses of the horns on the bur-rowing beetle, says that in Africa he has seen a beetle clinging to a ball of manure, rolling it over and over until a suitable spot for burying it was reached. I saw the same thing in Natal, but the operator, if I am not much mistaken, was a spider. I remember, as an experiment, pushing it away from its egg-ball with a twig, but it always got back to the ball, which, if I recollect aright, was bout an inch in diameter. Other Australians in Africa must have noted this. What is their im-pression?

GREY THRUSH'S EGGS. The eggs described by "T.C.M." (Prince's Hill), "white, with dashes of dark brown, and smaller light and dark grey markings,"

I take to be those of the grey or harmonious

thrush.

BIRD BOOKS. I cannot recommend the book mentioned by a Canterbury correspondent as a good work on birds. It is expensive, and the plates are indifferent. There is no diffi-culty in buying it, but is is much harder

to sell.

A GOULBURN FISH.

I cannot with any certainty name from the sketch sent by "Angler," Nathalia, the perch-like fish presumably caught in the Goulburn. It was 22in. long, 7in. in depth, very flat on the sides, and weighed 7lb. The flatness on the side, as well as the under colour, and arrangement of the fins, would

suggest the golden perch, but that fish is probably well known to Goulburn anglers.

ENGLISH GOLDFINCH.

The bird described by "B.H.T." (Howe's Creek) is the English goldfinch.