Mr. Browne
shot one: certainly it is a most extraordinary animal; a stuffed
specimen does not at all give a good idea of the appearance of the
head and beak when fresh; the latter becoming hard and contracted.
(19/5. I was interested by finding here the hollow conical pitfall
of the lion-ant, or some other insect: first a fly fell down the
treacherous slope and immediately disappeared; then came a large
but unwary ant; its struggles to escape being very violent, those
curious little jets of sand, described by Kirby and Spence
"Entomology" volume 1 page 425, as being flirted by the insect's
tail, were promptly directed against the expected victim. But the
ant enjoyed a better fate than the fly and escaped the fatal jaws
which lay concealed at the base of the conical hollow. This
Australian pitfall was only about half the size of that made by the
European lion-ant.)
JANUARY 20, 1836.
A long day's ride to Bathurst. Before joining the high road we
followed a mere path through the forest; and the country, with the
exception of a few squatters' huts, was very solitary. We
experienced this day the sirocco-like wind of Australia, which
comes from the parched deserts of the interior.
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