Table Of Content

Tributes PritchardGB(1910) TheGeologyofMelbourne(Peter Melbourne to Ballarat (GSA Vic Division and G.Tait:Melbourne). FNCV: Blackburn,Victoria) Pritchard GB (1914) Notes on the Geology ofthe Sweet G and Brittlebank CC (1894) The glacial Bacchus Marsh District. In Handbook to Victoria. depositsoftheBacchusMarsh District.Reportofthe BritishAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience FifthMeetingoftheAustralasianAssociationforthe Australian Meeting 1914.EdsAM LaughtonandTS AdvancementofScience5,376-389,pis12-13. SeHlalwly,npp.AR1-C2((G1o8v6e1r)nmeGnetolProigntyer:ofMetlhbeouCronle)ony of WiNlaltiusralJi1s1ts(1C9l8u0b)ofTVhiectoFriiras.tTCheenVtiucrtyorioafntNhateurFaileilsdt Victoria. In Catalogue ofthe Victorian Exhibition 97,93-106. 1961, withprefatoryEssays, indicatingtheProgress, Resources, and Physicalcharacteristics ofthe Colony, pp. 175-191 (Government Printer, Melbourne) NW Schleiger (1995) Roadside Geology: a driveof Received10November2005;accepted9February2006 discovery, a trip through time, an explanation of landscape andunderlyinggeologicalstructure: OAM Ellen Margery McCulloch 23 April 1930 - 13 November 2005 Ellen Margery McCulloch (nee O’Neill) to schools, church groups and garden who died on 13 November 2005, aged 75, clubs. No opportunity was missed to fur- was born on 23 April 1930. She was therthecauseofherbelovedbirds. awarded the Australian Natural History All ofthis was fittedin with herwork asa Medallion in 1990, in recognition ofher twice-weekly volunteer in the Ornithology dedicated and tireless efforts for conserva- Departmentofthe MuseumofVictoria. She tion ofthe environment, relating particu- stayedthereforsixteenyears. larly tobirds- a well-deserved reward. As a delegate for BOCA she attended Ellen’s interest in birds commenced dur- meetings of the Department of ing walkstoand from school in Kallista. It Conservation, Forests and Lands. She was was an interest she never lost. Many years invited, as a lay person, to the Royal later, when she attended Jack Hyett’s lec- Melbourne Institute of Technology tures at the Council of Adult Education Experimental Ethics Committee, and (CAE), she realised that bird-watching, chaired the Roadsides Conservation and all that it involved, was the recreation Committee. she most wanted to pursue. From then on During discussions between the Japanese she led a life ofceaseless activity. Despite and Australian governments, when they having two small daughters, and home were putting into place a scheme to pro- cares, she found time to involve herself vide protection for migratory birds, Ellen more and more in the world ofnatural his- was a non-governmental delegate, con- tory. When she felt she was competent tributing herextensiveand practical exper- enough she also became a lecturer for the tise. During the 1970s she was a BOCA CAE. She also enjoyed cricket, music and representativeata seriesoflengthy discus- spinning. sions with the Victorian Fisheries and She joined Bird Observers Club of Wildlife Division. These led, in 1981, to Australia (BOCA) in 1963 and held secre- theLand forWildlifeproject. Tobeableto tarial positions in that organisation for display the Land for Wildlife logo, inter- more than ten years. However, she really estedproperty ownerswererequiredto ful- came into her own when she was appoint- fil certain requirements, such as providing ed as the Club’s Public Relations Officer. habitat forbirds and otherwildlife. Today, In this capacity she was responsible for thousands ofproperty owners participate setting up displays at shopping centres, in this scheme, and ofall Ellen’s achieve- nurseries and libraries. She also gave talks mentsthisgave herthemostpride. Vol. 123 (2) 2006 111 Tributes Shewas responsible formany surveys on such species as Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, Pelicans and Bush Stone- curlews, and organised a team to monitor the dwindling Superb Fairy-wren popula- tion in theRoyal BotanicGardens. Sheproduced manyleafletsontopical sub- jects inadditiontowritingnumerousarticles for a wide variety ofpublications. One leaflet, ‘Australian Birds and the Law', was translated into nine languages. Her book. Your Garden Birds (1987) was followed by If* Birds in Your Garden (2000), an expanded andupdatedversionoftheearlierwork. She promoted bird feeders but when the trend veered away from inappropriate (e.g. human) food for birds, she publicised this fact. Instead she advised bird lovers always to provide drinking water- out of reachofcats. An entry, ‘Birds’, appears above her name, posthumously, in the magnificent Encyclopedia ofMelbourne (2005). She \ wouldhavebeen proud. ShewashonouredwithaLifeMembership of BOCA in 1985, the Australian Natural HistoryMedallion in 1990, andin 1991 with a Medal ofthe Order ofAustralia, for '‘ser- vicestoornithology’. EllenMcCullochOAM. PhotoGaelTrusler Tess Kloot 8/114ShannonStreet BoxHillNorth,Victoria3129 One Hundred Years Ago Atrampfrom Healesvilleto Buxton. BotanicalandOrnithological NotesforSeptember. By A.D. Hardy, F.L.S. andMrs. Hardy. ...Leaving Narbethong and Fisher’s Creek behind, we climbed the spur beyond. The third animal, other than birds, we saw here - a Wombat, Phascolomys mitchelli Owen, standing with its legs deep in snow, and with the ends ofa grass-like plant, projecting from itsmouth, beinga very conspicuous object. It was farfromanycover, and stood motionless, and apparently numbed withcold, until we stood within six feet ofit. Our voices, however, caused it to beat a precipitous retreat down the steep hill- side, a shower ofsnow followang as the weighed down bracken fronds were released and the stems acted like springs. Everywhere the stems of buried bracken fronds appeared like countless croquet hoops. We followed back the Wombat's tracks to aosfcwerhtiacihn wthheatlepalvaensthtahde abneiemnaplulhlaeddbuepe,naenadtitnhge,sawnedetf,owuhnidteit,tsoucbceuXleernottpeasrtlsonngeiafroltihae, root eaten. Here and there we found this Xerotes with the comparatively hard green leavescroppedofftothesurfaceoftheground,therootpartsbeingneglected. From The VictorianNaturalist,XXII,p. 167, February 8, 1906 112 The Victorian Naturalist