q;?e AUST LIAN M USEUM M AGAZINE Vol. VI, No. 9. JANUARY"MARCH, 1938. Price-ONE Black-backed Magpie. nl!~;h; I• • J 'N I ;al [he <:t•lltot'n l I"Osl Ofli!·(·, Rydney, for transm i ssi on l)y posl as a ])t'l"iOdi cal. THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM HYDE PARK, SY DNEY B OARD OF TRU STEE S PRESIDENT: F. S. ~IANCE, A.I.C.A. C ROWN TR UST EE : JAl\IES 1\lcKERN. OFFI CI A L TR UST EES: HIS HONOUR THE CUI.EF J US'l'ICE. THE HON. '!'HE PRESIDENT OF THE LEGI SL ATIVE COUNCIL. THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECltE'l'AH.Y. THE HON. THE ATTO.RNEY-Gl!:NEltAL. THE HON. TH E COLONIAL 'J.'JlEASU.RElt. THE HON. THE SECRETA.H.Y FOH. PU.GLlC WO.RKS. THE liON. THE MINlS'rER OF .PUBLIC lNS'l'ltUCTlON. THE AUDITOR-GENERAL. THE PitESIDENT OF THE NEW SOUTll WALES ]IIED1CAL BOARD. THE SURVEYOR-GENERAL AND ClilE.l!' SURVEYOlt. THE CROWN SOLICITOR. EL ECTIVE TR UST EES: G. ll. AB.BOT'l', B.A., ~LB., Cu.M. F. S. :\!ANCE, A.l.C.A. E. C. AND.RE\YS, B.A., F.G.S. THE HO.N. F. E. WALL, M.D., M.L.C. GORRIE 1\I. 'BLAIR. PROF. A. N. •r. G. BURKITT, M.B., B.Sc. C. GORDON ~[ACLEOD, M.A., :U.D .. Cu.:M. THE HON. H. M. HA WKINS, M.L.C., F.R.E.I., F.l.L.V. G. A. WATERHOUSE, D.Sc., B.E., F.R.E.S. PROlt' . W. J . DAKIN, D.Sc., F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.R.Z.S. FREDRICK W. :UIARK , lt'.C.A. (AUSTR.). MAJ.-GEN. TtlE liON. SI.R CHARLES ROSENTHAL, K.C.B., C.)l.Q., D.S.O., V.D., F.R I.B.A., M.L.C. DIREC TOR: CliAJl.LES ANDERSON, M:.A., D.So., C.M.Z.S. SECRE TARY : W. T. WELLS, A.I.A.V. SCIE NTI FIC S TAFF : M ineralogy and Petrology. Entomology and .Arachnology. T. HODGE-SMITII. AN'l'lLONY 1\IUSGRAVE, F.R.E.S. R. 0. CHALl\IERS, A.S.T.C. K. C. hlcKEOWN. Palaontology. Ichthyology. C. ANDERSON, M.A., D.Sc. GI LBERT P. WHITL EY. H. 0. FLETCHER. Amphibia, llerpetolO(Jl/, and Ornithology. Lozcer lnvertel>rates. J. R. KINGIIORN, C.M.Z.S. F. A. McNEILL. .ll armnalou11 and Osteology. A. A. LI VINGSTONE. ELLIS LE G. TROUGHTON, C.M.Z.S. W. BOARDMAN. A.nthropology and Ellmology. Conchology. EL l E BU.AMELJ,, ~LA., D ip.Ed. TOM I REDALE. F. D. l\IcCAltTHY, Dip . Anthr. JOYCE K. ALLAN. LIBRARIAN: W. A . RAI NBOW. PREPARATORI AL STAFF: G. C. CL UTTON, Chief .11 rticulator. H. S. GRANT, Chief Taxi dermist. HONORARY SCIENTI F I C S TAFF: Z oolo{]ists. T~ntomologists . PROF. T. HARVEY JOHNSTON, :\LA., D.Sc. li1DWARD F. liALLl\fANN. B.Sc. G. A. WAT ERHOUSE, D.Sc., B.E., F.R.Z.S. PROF. E. A. BRIGGS. D.Sc. ll . J. CA lt T ER. B .A ., F.R .E.S. ll. J,EIGTITON KESTEVEN, D.Sc., )!.D. rl'. H . GUTURIE. ~1ELBOURNE WARD, F.Z.S. Omitholonisls. Archa•olonist. ..\. F. BASSET HULL, :U.B.E., F.R.Z.S. P ltOT~ . J. T,. STIELLSH EAR, ~LB., Ch .~f. R:. A. III NDWOOD. A. J . :\IARSHALL. GEORGE A. THOMAS. TH E AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE YoLt:'l'E, Oun: A~n IIAHP HELLS Pro 11 t ispiece X ATl"R.\ LIX'I'l-; OF' 'J' H J~ Fw. 'T F LEET-Gilbert P. 11'71 it/('Y 291 ZEOLITEs- '1 '. Tf o d[! r - ~-. ymith 305 A USTR.\LI.\X " IJJ~L rj s: Y OLUTES AXD )lELOX S 1r ELLS, OLIVE:. RrcE. ILutP, )1.\RGI:\", AXD Ciwss- B.\RIHm 11 ELLS-Joyae A llctn 309 A l'STHA 1.1.\~ J ?\SE ''f' ' . 1: lX TR ODUCT I 0~-1( e ifl1 0. Jfcf\ CO II/ I/ 315 T11~ Ex·nxvT Bums OF L oito HowE I sLAxo-J\. A. lTiHdwoocl 319 Pllotog?·aphy, u.nless othe1·wise stated, is by G. C. Glutton. • OUR FRONT COVER. The Black-Backed Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen Latbam) is by Lilian :\1edland. It is one o( a series of post cards issued by the Australian Museum. The familiar and well-beloved Magpie is, of course, not a I\Iagpie at all, but nothing will ever eradicate the use of the name now. The specific name tibicen means a flu teplayer, and refers to the glorious piping, gurgling song, m ost delicious of a ll bird songs, in the early morning when the birds are uttering a thanksgiving for their breakfasts. The Magpie ranges over t he greater part of Australia, and frequents many kinds of country, but is essentially a bird of the open grasslauds and lightly timbered areas. It is chiefl y insecti­ vorous, a nd obtains its food entirely upon the g round, destroying enor mous numbers of noxious insects, so that it is one of th e most valuable birds to the farmer. Its large twig nest is a familiar sight almost everywhere. It is lined with bark or other soft materials, and three to five eggs are laid, wh ich are ver y variable in colou r. The usual type has a gr·ey ground, which is mottled a ll over with streaks of brownish red. Very often, however, the ground colour is g reenish g rey. The birds become savage during the breeding season, and will often viciously attack anyone passing by the nesting tree. V OLU~Il ~~ VJ NUMBEH 9. JANUARY- MARCH, 1938. ' 12 17 }'~·. - ,. j ":. •. I ,. .,., ~ . ,.., .,.l. , , ~· , IH, ' ! ' J-:, 21 •::/ 19 Volute, Olive, and Harp Shells. .J oyce Al1an, del. THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE Published by the Australian Museum College Street, Sydlney Editor: C. ANDERSON, M.A.: D.Sc., C.l\f.Z.S. Annual Subscription, Post Free, 4/4 VoL. VI. No. 9. J A.NUARY-.:H ARCH. ] !)38. Naturalists of the First Fleet By G l LBERT P . WHITLEY, F .R.Z.S., R.A.O.U. USTRALIA i now celebrating its made natnrali ·ts of themselve.· in a sesqni-centena1·y and Sydney is strange land. A gaily decorated in honour of t he The abol'igines. the animals and plants anival of the First Fleet in its harbour h1 the penal settlements of Sydney and in J anuary, 1788. To-day a flourishing Nol'folk I sland we1·e so stl·ange that they modern nation thinks of the eleven little could not fail to impres · these exiled vessels which brought a heterogeneous Engli. hmen . Some of the animals and collection of over one t housand people to bhds they descl'ibed 01· drew are now found a colony in t hose far off days. extin ct in Sydney and on Lord Howe or Gene1·ations have passed, and now our Nol'folk I slauds, so that the M~ S. and information about t hat pel'iod can be drawings of the F irst Fleet natul'alists obtained only by r eading t he old books are p1·iceless. and manuscl'ipts and inspecting the dra\v· Lack of space pre,·ents my giYing bio­ ings \Yhich have been handed down to us, graphical details, whieh may be found in and in this way we can gain a little idea Rumsey's P ionee1·s of Sydney Cove) 1937, of the natural history of Sydney before o1· in various encyclopaedias. I here stre ·s it became the city it is t o-day. only t he nattnal histo1·y items which have )lany jom·nals, letters and papeTs of been gleaned after some years of sea1·ch­ the F i1·st Fleet period have been b1·ought ing. F or convenience I aiTange the men to light in different places, some in quite undet· the alphabetical order of their recent yeat·s, and all of them have not uames and conclude this ar title with yet been critically examined by natural­ refe1·ences to some very intereRting ists. Yet from the sources a vailable, natlnal history paintings made in New briefly sketched in this article, it is South Wales in the eighteenth century, evident t hat with the adaptability of of which about one thousand are still in pioneers, so~e of the fi1·st Sydney-side1·s cx i ~ten ce . 292 THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. MARCU 30, 1938. The earliest known or·igi-nal. ct?·aw·ing of a,n Em'tt ( Drondceius novae­ hollctndiae) of Botany Rcty) made by Ar·thur Bowes in 1788. This bi1·d wets ovm· seven feet h-igh and ninety 1J01iJnds we'ightJ and its skin was pTe­ served for Oove·1·no1' Ph·ill'i7J. It had fed on the Clwi.stmas B ell flowers (B) he1·e shown beside C£ Grc£ss Tree . (A.). JP'I'om Bowes' ma.nu.sc'rilJt d'ia1·y in the Mitchell Li.brCL'I'J/, Sydney. DAVITI BLAC'KBUHN. the parent Protects them in this Manner we do not know but I think not after they are Captain of the S'tt1J1Jly and one of the the size of a Cat- The Flying Squirrel is an fh·st white men to visit Sydney, he wrote to Inhabitant of these woods & two or three his f1·iencls in England letters which have Animals of the Opossom kind, & I am informd. been published in the J ou/r·nal Roya.l A 'LM­ some Tiger Cats have been seen.