Sea and River-side Rambles in Victoria

Front matter

The Marine Aquarium

SEA

AND

Chapter 1

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

Greatly as a taste for Marine Zoology has been diffused by the numerous beautifully illustrated and charming books, which within the last few years have appeared from the English press, they are nearly all costly, and many of them of too technical a nature to prove of real value to the masses, who at the approach of the hot winds of Summer flock to the Sea-shore, and we pen these pages with the hope that the chatty form in which we have endeavoured to impart a few of the gleanings made during several years' rambling in the Colony, may take this Book into the hands of many, who, perhaps, having a lurking taste for the subject of which it treats, would be deterred from its perusal, were it of a more precise or scientific character.

"Great cities," remarks Professor Harvey, in the Preface to his splendid Work on the Seaweeds of our Coast, "are springing up in the Australian Colonies; and watering places, to which the citizen takes his family to enjoy the sea breeze during the summer time are coming into being," still, a residence at the Sea-side soon becomes very monotonous where the mind has not full occupation, but following out a few of the hints contained in the following pages, inducements will be found fog taking exercise in search of some of the many beautiful objects of the Sea-shore, and so all the functions, bodily and mental, may be maintained in a healthy state.

"Not lost the time in Sea-side ramble spent, Braced is the frame, and mental health is gained."

With such glorious teachers as Gosse, Lewes, Harvey, and Rymer Jones, we have often preferred giving a vividly written passage from some one of their Works to anything of our own, and in the preparation of this Work have wished indeed "that some one more skilful had undertaken it, but still it is better even we should undertake it than it be left undone."

Chapter 2

CHAPTER II.

To one who has been long in City pent, Tis very sweet to look into the fair And open face of heaven,—to breathe a prayer Full in the smile of the blue firmament."—Keats.

There are certain times and seasons when the mind, so dependent on a healthy state of the body for a vigorous development, worn out by constant toil and anxiety, becomes thoroughly unstrung, and unless a change of scene and companions can be at once obtained, it soon becomes impaired, and sooner or later the consequences are seen in one of the many tedious nervous diseases unfortunately so prevalent in this country. A change into the interior is scarcely likely to prove as beneficial to the man of sedentary habits as a run by the sea, where the "stormy winds do blow," and where the long lost appetite quickly returns, and the mental faculties resume their wonted spirit and energy.

We write from experience, for rendered irritable by long confinement, and as a climax, the intense heat of the anniversary of the well-remembered Black-Thursday, when the inhabitants of our tank, one after another, were found lying, not "scentless" certainly, but "dead," and the numerous fresh-water Algæ, so carefully preserved, each in its separate bottle on our mantel piece, waiting until we had leisure to investigate them, had withered, we hastily packed up a few choice books, a good supply of glass sample bottles, the use of which will be apparent by and by, a few quires of blotting paper and muslin strapped between well-seasoned boards, and our microscope, determined to explore some of those glorious dark crannies and sheltered nooks which for months past had formed the subject of our dreams, day and night, and which add so considerably to the charm of Sea-side rambling. But where to go then became a matter of grave consideration,—Hobson's Bay, Geelong, Queenscliff, all had something to recommend them, but we wanted companionship and quiet as well as fresh air, and so Warrnambool was decided on to be visited first, with a hope to call, as our leisure would allow, at all these places on our return. The trip to Lady Bay, a few years since one of so much discomfort, having to be made in diminutive crafts, not particularly well provisioned, is now really an enjoyable one, and where it formerly occupied from a week to an indefinite period at the caprice of the winds, is now performed in about eighteen hours in steamers, well officered and well furnished in every way. The weighty point "where to go," being thus decided, we were before many hours had passed over our heads safely ensconced on board the "Lady Bird," and in spite of the gloominess of the morning, the mere anticipation of what we knew to be in store for us soon dispelled all the feeling of "hippishness" which had beset us for many weeks previously. Although steaming along the coast for a considerable portion of the passage, there is nothing of interest to observe after passing the Heads, except the few chance vessels which may be sighted, and the Cape Otway Light, always anxiously looked for. So far then on our way, after watching awhile the phosphorescence of the waves as our vessel dashed through them, we turned in, and were awakened at an early hour in the morning by the announcement that Warrnambool was in sight; our toilet quickly made, we went on deck just as we steamed past Curdie's inlet, where, it will be remembered, the "Schomberg" was wrecked, and in a short time the pretty little town which was to be our temporary abiding place, loomed out from its shelter of thick timber. We now pass the mouth of the river Hopkins (about a mile from the port,) which is barred by a reef of rocks whereon the surf dashes heavily, it is a pretty object, the rugged crags dotted here and there, on which rest lazily enough a group of Cormorants, and the little blue Heron, reminding us of the singular tail pieces which illustrate some of Bewick's works. The white sand hummocks thrown up on shore are objects of interest to the stranger; but the anchor drops as we steam into the snug little Bay, so well protected by the dense bed of Kelp, and the Gulls and Terns fly screaming overhead, indignant apparently at our intruding into their usually quiet haunts, but we shall make acquaintance with them anon we dare say. After being landed by the worthy Harbour Master, we prefer, having suffered severely from the feeling of mal-de-mêr, worse infinitely than the reality, to walk to the town, to the residence of an old friend, where the inner man, a dreadful sufferer on these occasions, being recruited, we saunter out through the town. We had resided here for many years, but in a comparatively brief absence observed marked improvements, thanks to the Local Powers, (the Road Board, and the Municipality,) good roads, Government buildings, a Light-house, Obelisks to serve as land-marks, and a tramway to the Jetty, all proving the importance, from the large agricultural population surrounding it, of this little town. There are now too several respectable hostelries, where but a few years since there was only one, and the visitor will find comfort in any of them.

We have an intense horror of being idle, so adopting the advice of Goethe not to—

"Defer

Until to-morrow, what may to-day be done,"

We call upon, and capture a Correspondent on Natural History topics, whose zeal in scientific pursuits we had long been aware of. Greetings interchanged, for Naturalists require no formal introduction, we started with the intention of exploring the rock-pools westward of the town. Arrived at our hunting ground after crossing the Merri River, noticing as we climbed the hill a species of the rush-like Xerotes in flower, we found the sea far too rough, and the sky too unpropitious to allow of our peering into the haunts of such creatures as we are in search of; yet nothing daunted we recross in our frail punt, bottling by the way a pretty species of a Diatom, (a Gomphonema), which fringed its sides, and away by the beach towards the Hopkins, to see what might turn up, since we verily believe with Wilmot, whose delightful "Summer Time in the Country," we would wish was more generally known, that "open eyes are always learning,—a garden, a wood, even a pool of water encloses a whole library of knowledge, waiting only to be read." How much more will the wide expanse of Ocean afford us, so densely filled with vegetable and animal life, that the mind grows fairly "dizzy wi the thought."

Unpromising as were our first glances, we walked along, sniffing the delicious odour of the seaweed, chatting of and arranging our plans for future rambles, when our friend exclaimed exultingly, "Quo minime credos gurgite, piscis erit" and truly here, where and when we least expected, our attention was arrested by millions of minute gelatinous-looking objects; we take up one, banded with pink of the faintest hue, another, and another finds its way into bottle No. 2; these were evidently a species of Acalepha or Sea-blubber, but we were unable to identify them, intermingled with them, and somewhat alike in appearance, though differing in shape, were numerous specimens crested with purple, of the bladder of the Portuguese man-of-war, (Physalia) included by Cuvier amongst the Acalephes Hydrostatiques, from its large swimming bladder, which, being easily compressed, enables it to regulate its specific gravity at will—to rise or sink at pleasure; hanging too from its under part are cilia or arms, and various other organs, which probably serve the purpose of nutrition and reproduction. According to Owen, these appendages are of three kinds—urticating, digestive, and (probably) generative. The urticating tentacles being the longest, hollow, and provided with muscular fibres, of which the most conspicuous are longitudinal, and serve to retract them; they contain many corpuscles of a reniform shape, and are richly provided with thread-cells, whose filaments are of the spiral kind. The gastric appendages are shorter and wider, and are provided with stomata, which are applied to the prey, seized and benumbed by the tentacles. If the prey be small, it is sucked bodily into the gastric sac; if large the sac becomes distended with its juices and dissolved parts, the gastric secretion being a very rapid and powerful solvent. The mouth of each sac is wide, with a broad everted lip, armed with a series of "nettle cells." The whole gastric appendage is highly contractile, and in constant motion in the living animal. Great was our joy as we sat examining these gem-like creatures, quite forgetting the old adage, that "time and tide tarry for no man," until a huge wave compelled us to decamp hastily, and when well beyond its reach we observed on looking round, our collecting bottle into which our treasures had been placed, floating away high on the crest of one wave, now deep down in the trough of another, fairly out to sea,—a sad loss! for before it could be replaced, the tide would have carried away the very specimens we were so anxious to procure. After mourning awhile, and at length somewhat appeased by the consolations of our companion, we set to work anew. Anon, something very much like the object we had lost so prematurely appeared about fifty yards a-head, but bottles are unfortunately too common objects of our shores, so we sauntered slowly towards it, hoping at the best to find the wherewith to make an impromptu aquarium, when to our great joy, here, uninjured, well-stoppered, and with its inhabitants none the worse for their trip back to their native element, was our lost one; this inspired us with fresh vigour, and not finding much that we cared for on the beach, we set to examining the huge Kelp roots, and they were well worthy of it, as the keener eyes of our fellow-labourer soon detected. We had but a moment since been recalling poor Forbes' amusing account of his suicidal Starfish, (Luidia), (see his "British Starfishes," page 138), and we had an illustration of it with an Ophiurus, also a Starfish, but so named from the lizard-like appearance of its arms, which we had turned out from one of those same densely-matted kelp-roots;—off went first the extremity of one arm, as it lay in our hand,—then, with an impudent twist, the smallest bit in life of another, whilst horror-stricken we called hastily for a collecting-box to receive him, or rather all that was left of him,—little enough indeed,—since all that was secured entire was his disk, and on a glass-jar on our mantel-piece he wandered for many weeks amidst his rejected members, which still maintained their vitality, frequently protruding their suckers. Sir John Dalyell mentions having picked up a single ray of a Starfish, which in a few days reproduced four additional ones, all smaller than the original, but this after a time dropped off, leaving the animal more perfectly symmetrical, and the renovated creature entered vigorously on its new career.

But let us examine these suckers more closely, since they seem to act pretty much in the same manner as the leather toy we, as school-boys, amused ourselves with, and by them there can be little doubt that progression is effected. Their mechanism, we learn from Gosse, is very simple. At the bottom of a furrow in each ray are rows of minute pores, through which the suckers are protruded, the base of each sucker being expanded into a little globular vesicle, which lies above the pore in the interior of the ray; the walls of this vesicle are muscular, and therefore contractile, and it is filled with a fluid. When an animal wishes to protrude and extend any given sucker, it contracts the vesicle at its base by an effort of the will; the fluid is thus forced into the tubular stem which is therefore compelled to elongate, and on the removal of this contractile force, the fluid returns to the bladder, either by the elasticity of the tube, or probably by its muscular action, and the sucker is gradually withdrawn.

We are treading shells under our feet at every step, and as yet have said nothing of them, beautiful as they are, and must reserve it now for another chapter, since we cannot dismiss forms varied as they are graceful, with any hurried remarks.

Chapter 3

CHAPTER III.

"There are curious things of which men know As yet but little. —————————— Shells Which ocean flingeth forth from off her billows On the low sand.

Unfortunately for our knowledge of Conchology, collectors content themselves too frequently with gathering the dead and empty shells washed up by the 'tide, as if they, fractured, waterworn, and colourless, could give any idea of the glorious creatures which had inhabited them;—as well might they judge of a man's habits and character by walking through his house;—and it is the mere formation of cabinets for the beauty of the shells which has led to this being considered a frivolous study, and so, without knowing the habits of the animal, and its conformation, affecting the form of the shell so very materially, it is. Still collectors often hunt up objects which had escaped the eye of those more educated in scientific pursuits, so instead of criticising the past, we will rather give a brief digest of the peculiarities which characterise this division of the Natural Kingdom, as well as some few hints for the guidance of the Amateur Naturalist in his researches for the future.

Shell-fish then, be it known, belong to that division of the Natural World called "Mollusca" from the Latin word mollis (soft), their bodies consisting universally of a soft consistence and generally protected by a hard shell, Univalve or Bivalve. Taking first now the Univalves, which have a distinct head, eyes, and tentacles, the mouth being armed with jaws, we find that Cuvier has arranged them into three classes, the animals belonging to the first of which are termed Cephalopoda (from Cephale the head, and poda feet), because their feet, or rather arms, which are attached to the head form a circle around the mouth; the Cuttle fish is a familiar example, and its shell, which is internal, as in almost all comprised in this class, is constantly thrown upon our shores;—the beautiful little discoidal chambered shell of the Spirula, is not uncommon on the Warrnambool and other of our coasts, the animal itself would indeed be a prize, for although an inhabitant of all the warm seas, it is not often met with.

The animals of the second class, or Gasteropoda, of which the common garden snail is a good type, creep by the successive expansion and contraction of their broad muscular foot, which is formed by the under side of the body, and thus the name of the class is obtained from gaster, the belly, and as before poda, feet. Some breathe air, (pulmonifera), others water (branchifera.) Many of the individuals of the latter division close their habitations with a horny or calcareous covering called an operculum, and it presents strange modifications of structure; we find it in some spiral, in others concentric, and occasionally claw-shaped; that of a Natica found on the Western Coast, is commonly used as card counters, and we have seen them polished and tastefully mounted as wrist studs and shawl pins. Our shores give us many Carnivorous Gasteropods, for example, Murex; Fusus, or Spindle shell; Nassa, or Dog-whelk; Purpura, or Purple shell, (some species of which afford a dye); Conus or Cone shell; Voluta; Mitra or Mitre shell; Cypræa, (Cowrie), &c., &c. Livnigstone, in his entertaining travels tells us that the chief Shinte, as a last proof of his friendship came into his tent, which he closed to prevent the possibility of there being any witnesses to his extravagance, and then presented him with the conical end of a Cone shell, adding as he did so, "There now you have a proof of my friendship." So high a price was set on these shells, that five of them would be a handsome sum for an Elephant's tusk worth £10.

In brackish water we may find many of the Seasnails, the pretty little mottled Natica, the long spiral Cerithium, and on the rocks at Lady Bay we have seen specimens of the Siliquaria or Pod shell, which is longitudinally slit all along its twisted spire; the Litorina or Periwinkle, is always found within the action of the tide, as it feeds on sea-weed, and the brackish lagoons afford us the pretty minute Looping snail (Truncatella) in abundance, and it has one recommendation that it can survive for a considerable time in the mud, when the water has been dried up by the Summer's sun.

The richly-colored Pheasant shell (Phasianella) should be sought after eagerly on the Warrnambool and other shores, since it forms so lovely an object for the Cabinet; its generic name has its origin in the resemblance of the markings of the shell to the plumage of the Pheasant (Phasianus): the hoop shells Trochi, are found attached to rocks on all our coasts; of the Ear shells (Halotis), and Boat shells (Chiton), we shall have much to say hereafter when we meet with them.

Of the Pulmonifera or air-breathing Mollusca, some are terrestrial, others fresh-water, and many inhabit damp places near the sea; their respiratory organ is so simple a form of lung, that this order is called by Gray, "concealed lunged," as the orifice is small and valve—like to guard against the entry of water in the aquatic tribes, and to prevent the rapid desiccation in the land snails.

The latter do not abound in Australia, but we find abundant interest in the beautiful shells which exist in the Yarra, the Moorabool, the Merri, and other of our rivers, lurking on the large, ovate, floating leaves of the Nymphæa-like Damasonium, or the broad paler Potamogiton (Pond-weed), which is always so gay and refreshing an object, but these we must needs put into an Aquarium to watch with the aid of a pocket lens their structure and habits. We place along with them some of the green scum which covers the surface of the water (we say scum, but it is in reality a beautiful freshwater Alga,) a Zygnema in conjugation, and a few plants, such as Chara, the velvety Azolla rubra or pinnata, one or the other of which is to be met with on the Merri, at Warrnambool; the Moorabool, at Geelong; on the lagoon in the Botanical Gardens, Melbourne, and such like situations. The flat many-whorled shell, so brittle,—is a Planorbis, this other, ovate-shaped and also very thin with a large aperture, is a Physa, so called from its resemblance to a pouch; and the one, with the aperture on the right, which distinguishes it from the former is an allied genus, Limnæa, or Pond-snail. All these are widely distributed throughout the world. Now then let us watch how industriously they are cleaning off the dark coating of Conferva, which has already commenced growing on the sides of our Aquarium, and with this lens see how they use their tongue; the upper lip with its mandible is raised, the lower lip which is horse-shoe shaped, expands, the tongue is protruded and applied to the surface for an instant, and then withdrawn; its teeth glitter like glass paper, and in Limnæa it is so flexible that frequently it will catch against projecting points, and be drawn out of shape slightly as it vibrates over the surface.

Both these last species crawl beneath the surface of the water with their shells downwards, the Limnæa depositing its eggs, some fifty or sixty in number, in small sacs, and Mr. Hogg, in his valuable work on the Microscope, (Edition 4, p. 423,) gives us some interesting information on their subsequent development, " When examined soon after they are deposited, the vesicles appear to be filled with a perfectly clear fluid; at the end of twenty-four hours a very minute yellow spot, the nucleus or germ, may be seen near the side of the cell-wall. In about forty-eight hours afterwards, this small germ has a smaller central spot, rather deeper in color, which is the nucleolus. On the fourth day the nucleus has changed its position, and is enlarged to double the size upon viewing it more closely a depression or fissure is seen,—this on the eight day most distinctly divides the small mass into the shell and soft part of the future animal. It is then detached from the side of the cell, and moves with a rotatory motion around the cell interior; the direction of this motion is from the right to the left, and is always increased when the sunlight falls on it. The increase is gradual up to the sixteenth day, when the spiral axis can he made out, and it presents a striking difference to the soft parts in appearance. On the eighteenth day these changes are more distinctly visible, and the ova crowd down to the mouth of the ova-sac; by using a higher magnifying power, a minute black speck, the future eye, is seen protruded with the tentacles. Upon closely observing it, a fringe of cilia is noticed in motion near the edge of the shell. It is now apparent that the rotatory motion first observed must have been in a great measure due to this, and the current kept up in the fluid contents of the cell by the ciliary fringes. For days after the young animal has escaped from the egg, this ciliary motion is carried on, not alone by the fringe surrounding the mouth, but by cilia entirely surrounding the tentacles themselves, which whips up the supply of nourishment, and at the same time the proper aeration of the blood is effected. Whilst in the ova it probably is by this motion that the cell contents are converted into tissues and shell. From the twenty-sixth to the twenty-eight day, it appears actively engaged near the side of the cell, using all its force to break through the cell wall, which at length it succeeds in doing, leaving the shell in the ova sac, and immediately attaching itself to the side of the glass vase to recommence its ciliary play, and appear in a still more advanced stage. It is still some months before it grows to its perfect form. One of these snails may deposit from two to three of these ova-sacs a week, producing in the course of six weeks or two months from 900 to 1,000 young,"

It is to the Microscope then we owe this pithy description of the progress ab ovo, of a species allied to the common IAmnaa of our rivers.

We now turn to the Sea-slugs, whose shell, where it exists, is small and thin, slightly rolled and pearly white, and partially concealed by the animal; in Bullæa (Bubble shell,) we find an organ resembling the gizzard of a fowl, paved with calcareous plates capable of crushing the shell-fish on which it feeds. Many specimens of this shell we have obtained on the shore at Geelong. The Pteropoda our readers are seldom likely to meet with;—the Lamp-shell (Waldheimia) is not uncommon, attached by its pedicel to the oysters from Western Port, and its structure is worthy of examination; it belongs to Cuvier's 4th class, Brachiopoda, commencing the bivalve section, the animals comprised in which take their name from the ciliated arms on the side of the mouth, wherewith their food is obtained.

The well known bivalve shells of the Oyster and the Cockle are good types of the Conchifera, the animals of which are, with few exceptions, aquatic, and range at all depths on almost every coast and every clime. There are amongst them some burrowing shells, as the large white oblong Anatina (Lantern shell?) such splendid specimens of which are found in Corio Bay, a species of Solen, or Razor shell, and the borers are well represented by a Teredo which abounds on the piles at Williamstown.

The ability of many molluscs, especially the freshwater, to sustain life for a considerable time, is recorded in some remarkable instances; indeed it is probable that they become torpid in warm climates during the hottest and driest part of the year. Mr. Gray, of the British Museum, received from this country a Pond mussel which had been more than a year out of water, and it still lived; some pond snails have been found alive after five years, although in the warm climate of Jamaica, and an individual of the Desert snail which had been affixed to a tablet in the British Museum in 1846, was found, on some suspicion having arisen as to his having made determined efforts to escape from confinement, still flourishing after being immersed in tepid water.

A Cabinet of Shells is necessary for those who desire to study Conchology, and we may therefore hint, that to obtain specimens, perfect in shape and colour, dredging is the only good plan; but this may not be feasible, if so, the collector should wade amidst the rocks, examining the heaps of seaweed thrown on the sand after a storm, or carefully grope about all dark fissures, where many good species congregate, or are driven, nolens volens. Chitons and Limpets are only detached from the rocks by the aid of a strong bladed knife, as the former especially repel the air and water on all sides to produce a vacuum and so obtain a firmer hold, and they will sooner part with a portion of their shells than leave their places of attachment. Bivalves, and all live shells should be boiled and the soft parts removed when the valves separate or gape, but in doing this care should be taken not to injure the hinge, as it is often of material importance in the determination of genera; to preserve it therefore it is well to tie the shell round with some light thread. The operculum of Univalves must also be preserved, and should the contents of the shell at any time emit an unpleasant smell, a small quantity of chloride of lime will quickly and effectually remove it.

The arrangement of a collection of Shells is a mere matter of taste, much depending on the space that can be afforded to it. We who lead a somewhat nomadic life, prefer keeping the smaller species in small pill boxes, which can be purchased in nests at a trifling cost, the name of each species being carefully recorded on the lid; but a pair of each shell arranged on a cardboard, with the operculum glued down alongside, facilitates easy classification and subsequent examination.

We have not deemed it necessary to enter into a technical description of the columella, the hinge, and other portions of the shell, as this may be found in any elementary Work on the subject; to the amateur, Miss Catlow's little Manual will be of interest, but to the working Conchologist, we recommend Woodward's "Manual of the Mollusca," of which we need only say, that it is one of Weale's series, a sufficient testimony to its excellence.

Chapter 4

CHAPTER IV.

Now then having progressed so far that we have some knowledge of the shells with which we are likely to meet, let us again wander this bright morning to the Hopkins River, where we left our readers awhile since; but an hour ago as we peeped from our chamber window the rain mizzled thickly down, and we had well nigh given up all hope of a country ramble; but this was only what the Irish peasantry call the "pride of the morning," and any anxiety we might have felt was soon dispelled by the bright gleams of sunshine, pouting out at first, but soon bursting forth in full splendour; so having made a hasty toilet let us start before the heat becomes oppressive. Well supplied with all that is needful for any thing that may turn up, we are soon away, shaking the dewdrops off the grass, the pink flowering Convolvulus, and the pale blue Veronica, or Speedwell. The Hopkins River is about a mile and a-half to the eastward of the town, and the walk to it is full of interest, but as the day is young yet, we may even linger on our way. Let us visit the little spring exuding from the rock near the tunnel, and gather, "en passant," specimens of the Colobanthus Billardierii, which though an uncommon plant, abounds here, and then descend towards the Pertrobe Lagoon, noticing on the embankment of the hill cutting the shining-leaved Trachycaryon Klotschii. We stay on the water's edge for a time to note the elegant little Triglochin decipiens, (Arrow-grass,) the blue Mimulus or Monkey flower, and other plants which choose such moist situations; nor can we resist the pleasant shrill chirp which issues ever and again from the dense cover of the rushes; it is that of an old friend, which from its habit of flitting through the reeds and low grasses is only imperfectly known, and it cost us, we remember, some years since, many hours of patience before we could ascertain from what source the Grasshopper-like chirp emanated. With us it is an especial favorite, like the Blackcap, more frequently heard than seen, so retiring indeed that it seldom emerges from the concealment afforded by the plants common to low lying wet lands, but occasionally may be seen clinging gracefully to the heads of the rushes, where probably it obtains its food. Its wings are remarkably short and ill adapted for flight, still it appears to flit from place to place with marvellous rapidity; the beak is nearly black, with strong bristles at its base; crown of the head ferruginous; back and wings of dark olive with black markings; a streak of very pale blue extends from the base of the bill over the eye on each side. Throat, pale blue in the male, but rufous in the female; the tail, which is three inches in length, nearly as long again as the whole body, consists of six feathers with slender black shafts webbed on each side with minute hairy filaments at equal distances; and so like are these feathers to those of the Emu, that this bird has received the name of the Emu Wren. Its nest is of grass lined with feathers, and is in fact a perfect ball concealed in tufts at the trunks of trees