_______________________________________________________________________________________ D 6785 (L) Diary of Gilbert McDougall recording his observations of the flora and fauna around Yorke Peninsula from 2 January 1886 to 16 October 1887 with an index. Transcribed by Judy Fander, Volunteer at the State Library of South Australia, 2012. Dropped out of manuscript: two watercolour drawings of two different unnamed insects on small cards. Now housed separately with the diary. Also one small drawing of a seed found between p173 and 174. On the fly leaf: J C McDougall, c/o National Bank, Adelaide Natural History Notes. 1886 Edithburgh, Y.P. Jan.2. Hunting on the rocks down at Gottschalck’s Jetty, & found several varieties of Cominella,a number of which were feeding on a dead Chiton. Several Dromiae, strange brown hairy crabs having their backs covered by a closely-fitting but unattached zoophyte ore sponge; also a couple of Chitonellus Gunni ( ), a genus of Chitonidae in which the plates are very small & narrow & imbedded at intervals along the cartilaginous back of the mollusc. Received a letter from Pulleine to whom I had sent a specimen of the black-faced Artamus which was so abundant a couple of months ago. It is the Masked Wood Swallow (Artamus personatus), a species of periodical occurrence. I have 3 good skins, & 2 eggs. The nest is si placed in similar situations to those of A. sordidus & the construction is pretty much the same, loose twigs with no lining. The male bird has a rusty red breast & is very un- Page 3. Opposite page 4 Reference date Cyclodus gigas Jan 4. Pythina Deshayesiana perfect. v.p.p. 152,168.Jan 11 Saw specimen in Adelaide Museum, Dec 1886, marked Cryptodromia lateralis (Stimps.) Jan 11 Page 4. common compared with the number of females. Jan.3. Four good specimens of Cassis fimbriata on the rocks past the Cemetery. Jan. 4. Very hot wind sprang up from the S.W. about 5 in the afternoon. Got an uncommon lizard from Stebhens – it was much the same as the ordinary Stumpy-tail, but was slenderer, smoother, had a longer tail & was marked by several transverse black bands. It greedily ate beef in small pieces.Afterwards saw a Hammer-headed Shark about 30 inches long, caught at the reef. Jan. 5. Mallodon tardum (?) brought in by a boy. Jan. 6. Went out after Artamus personatus – all gone. Jan. 8. Large wasp ( No.) brought to me. Schnapper over two feet long caught off the jetty. Jan. 9. Saw Venus at the zenith at 2.30 P.M. shining brilliantly. Another Mallodon. Jan. 11. F.B. got a perfect specimen of Pythina Deshayesii in a rock pool a near the bathing house. Single valves are frequent, but I never saw a double one before. Found another kind of Dromia, flatter & more angluar than the common kind. D6785(L)_McDougallDiary_transcript Page 1 of 68 _______________________________________________________________________________________ Page 5. Opposite page 6 Reference date Lacon costipennis Jan. 13. Lacon costipennis Jan. 15. Page 6. Jan. 12. Shot a Shag near the Cemetery – found 3 parasite nearly the size of a pea on its neck. Jan. 13. A 6 foot shark got on a whiting line at the jetty; we managed to hook him in the mouth with a boathook, but he struggled so violently that it tore its way out. Fine Elater brought to me. Jan. 14. Went out with two others to the patches off Gottschalck’s Jetty & in a short time caught 18 whiting & several toadfish (Tetrodon) – these latter are as big a nui- sance as the leatherjackets. Sailed to the jetty & after dinner tacked against wind & tide to the same place & pulled in 13 more whiting. Jan. 15. Another Elater. Jan. 18. Two large sharks about 11 & 9 feet long around the jetty, attracted by a smaller one which had been caught & thrown overboard. Tried them with rock cod & whiting for bait, but though they would dart at the bait in a most ravenous fashion they invariably sheered off just at the critical moment. Caught a reddish one about 6 feet long, & cut out its backbone. With two others caught 20 whiting, a red mullet & a flathead in the afternoon. Page 7. Opposite page 8 Reference date v. p. 132. Jan. 20. Page 8. Jan.19. Musk-duck, shags & spurwing plover, adult Larus pacificus at Hungry Pt. Shot 4 red- headed dotterels ( Hiaticula ruficapilla ) Jan. 20. Went to the Lighthouse with M.B. in the Water Witch. Wind strong from S.E., had 3 reefs in the sail, tacked twice, & ran close enough in to jump ashore, the tide being low. Found a few eggs of the Little Tern ( Sternula Nereis ), two in each nest or rather in each depression in the sand which serves as a nest. Saw one young one – a little downy helpless thing, gray spotted with brown. The old birds were very excited, & darted screeching at our heads in a perfect cloud. Several large Terns about & a small kind much like Nereis, but having a black beak & a piping note. Query? is it an immature form? No shells of any kind on the island. F.B. had been staying for 3 days – he had a large egg, probably one of the large terns’ ( Sterna poliocerca ). Jan. 21. Caught a very large black wasp digging a hole in the ground near the school – the same species as that caught on the 8th., but much larger. ( No. Jan 22. Two fish dropped out of the mouth of a Shag which Page 9 Opposite page 10 Reference date Lacon costipennisJan. 24. In June 1887 I showed this Chiton to Pro. Tate. He could not name it & had only seen one of the species before obtained at C. Jervis. Feb. 4. D6785(L)_McDougallDiary_transcript Page 2 of 68 _______________________________________________________________________________________ Page 10. I had shot: one was a weedfish ( Odax ), the other a long bony angular fish resembling a pipe-fish. Jan. 24. Another Elater brought to me. Jan. 25. Gannet ( Sula australis ) in the bay. Jan. 26. Three Elaters – two of which had flown to a light in a shop window. So common that I will not mention any\more/ Jan. 31. Schizorrhina concolor brought to me. Heard a man on the jetty say that the alligator & crocodile were male and female of the same species, & so were the skate & stingray. Some time ago I heard a remark on the wo name More-pork, that it was spelled Mope- hawk, in allusion to its animal diet & sleepy demeanour in the daytime. Feb. 3. Barque “Antares” on the reef, at low water perfectly upright showing all her copper. She was towed off uninjured at 3 A.M. next day. Feb. 4. On rocks of near the cemetery. Got a fine Chiton, Lyria mitraeformis alive, & several large purple urchins (Strongylocentrotus eurythrogramma) living in holes in the rocks & under stones. Associated with them was a block starfish with 5 long rays covered with blunt spines ¼ of an inch long– this kind is capable of very rapid movement & cannot be preserved perfect owing to Page 11. Opposite page 12 Reference date On showing it to Prof. Tate, he produced a similar one, & stated that he took it to be Stenochiton Juloidea , but that he had not seen the description & consequently was uncertain. Feb. 9. Page 12. its suicidal habits. Three dogsharks ( Cestracion Philipsii ) in their usual cave. Caught 6 whiting ( Isosillage maculata ) & a snook ( Sphyraena Novae Hollandiae ) in the afternoon; the latter took the bait just as I lost a whiting I was pulling in. Feb. 7. Talking with one of the fishermen, he told me that fish rise to the surface at intervals to obtain air which they take in through the mouth into the airbladder & use gradually, that the jumping of fish is due to this. I asked him of what use the gills were & was informed they were simply to allow the water to escape which comes in at the mouth & that the fringes are to prevent the water entering at the \gills/. Feb. 8. Two more Schizorrhina concolor – a boy said he found them on a dead chicken. (?) Feb. 9. Went up to Yorketown on the baker’s cart & showed Mr. Matthews two good shells. One was a brown Chiton about long & broad. of which I had found two lying among the weed which had fallen from the anchor into my boat. I sent one to Dr. Magarey, & it was declared new by Tate & Bednall, but Dr. would not part with it for description. The other was a small bivalve shell, white & almost circular when spread, which I found Page 13. Opposite page 14 Reference Date v. p.p. 66, 110. Feb. 9. Page 14. attached to the under side of a large stone at dead low water with both valves spread flat limpet fashion. It seemed surrounded by a circlet of fine striae.\ciliae/I obtained three specimens. I borrowed Woodward’s ‘Manual of the Mollusca from Mr. M., & placed the shell D6785(L)_McDougallDiary_transcript Page 3 of 68 _______________________________________________________________________________________ somewhere near Galeomma. A few miles from Salt Creek I went after the bright blues (Ogyries Amaryllis), which haunt the mistletoe & generally keep well out of reach. They descend on turning the corners of the trees & when fighting, but so sharp a stroke is necessary for their capture that they are rarely ob- obtained perfect. I obtained 14, & send specimens to the Museum, Pulleine, Ashby & Magarey. Caught several bees on blossom of Melaleuca ericifolia, which is well out this year, including one black little spec. with yellow legs uncommon- ly like a Prosopis and emitting a delicious scent like some of that genus.