August i, 1SS5.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



83 



ia which teas are weigI:cJ by the Customs io 

 London and the allowauoe of lib. draft par p»ckage 

 to the trade. 



The present agreement has not been arrived at 

 withoat considerable opposition from native (i. e. 

 Fokien) teamen, and tho walls of the Oaoton Joss 

 House were for a day or two embellished with 

 some of ths choicei<t abuse the Chint-sp linguage 

 allows of, some tpit'.els being tjaita original and 

 ingenious and well worthy of the attention of any 

 of our sn'l.jjU'S whj are compiling a Chinese slang 

 dictionary. 



Our tea market wis opened yesterday, and prices 

 seem to suit tl.e heathen, as they aie passing nales. 

 — Moiuikong Daily Press. 



INSECT PESTS AND INSECIIVOEOUS EIEDS : 



A WILD BIRDS rKOTECriON ORDINA>XE WANTED IN 

 CEYLOK. 



TVe commend Mr. A. Whyte's letter (page 93) to the 

 attention of all connected with gardens or plantations. 

 The statistics given as to tho insect-destroying powers 

 of even a few birds are marvellous. As faraas cacao 

 is concerned, we should think insectivorous birds 

 would do well, it properly provided for aud conserved, 

 up to the limit of the zone in which the plant 

 grows, and a very large pioportion of the tea culture 

 of CeyloQ will be in this same zone, from sea-levei 

 to 2,000 or, at the utmost, 3,000 feet. 



The difficulty will be with tea grown above 3,000 

 feet, for nothing is more striking than the paucity 

 of bird-life as hijher aud higher elevations aro at- 

 tained in Ceylon, the substitution of plantations for 

 the orininal forest having seemingly banished a large 

 proportion even of the birds whoaa habiat is in the 

 elevated re^'iona. No doubt, something could be done 

 by growing groves of trees around bungalows and 

 elsewhere on estates, but, unless abundance of Htlo- 

 pelt'u (which we all deprecate) attracted insectivorous 

 birds, we eca'cely see how taey are to exist in any 

 numbers on hill and mountain properties. When first 

 cinchona oflicinalis seeded, numbers of small birds 

 came to the trees, but evidently the seed was not 

 acceptable as fuod, for the birds gradually disappeared. 

 S ill, aronud Nuwara Eliya whel-e the forest is un- 

 touched, tho birds con'.inue plentiful. Perhaps some 

 of our planter-friends may have experience to re- 

 cord or tuagestions to nflfer. 



"The ^"eed for a Wild Birds' Protection Act for 

 India" was the subject of a paper read before the 

 East India Association by Mr. Kobert II. Elliot 

 ("the Mysore Planter") about a year ago. We quote 

 a few passages in order to strengthen our position 

 in calling for some legislation in Ceylon. The 

 paper, in its entirely, now in our possession, will be 

 at the service of the Government or any legislator who 

 may wieh to take up the subject during the session 

 of Council. Mr. Elliot mentioned, among other in- 

 sectivorous birds that ought to be protected, tho fol- 

 lowing: — 



The Jay, Kingfisher, many kinds of Woodpeckers, 

 Thru6hes,"and Titmice. All these are sought in ludiafor 

 their plumage, and there can be no doubt of their use as 

 insect-eaters. The value of such birds to the planter and 

 the agriculturist has been fully recognized by the Govern- 

 ment of INfadras, which, some years apo, applied to the 

 Supreme Government for a Preservation Act. Aft«r a 

 long delay, there descended from Simla a single sentence, 

 declaring that the ^■ice^oy in Ooancil was not prepared to 

 legislate in order *' to prevent the indiscriminate destruc- 

 tion of wild birds for the sake of their plumage." In the 

 case of Mysore, 1 am happy to say, we have heeu more 

 fortunate. The Planters' Associations of that State lately 

 asked for an Act. A petition was also signed by native 

 farmers and cofTee-garden owners who,! need hardly say, 



are fully aware of the value of birds. The Prime Minister 

 promptly requested the planters to submit a measure for 

 consideration, and we hopf, before long, to have our 

 beautiful aud valuable birds efficiently protected. 

 About the way in which destruction is proceeding, 

 we read : — 



As tho most convenient season for the destruction of 

 birds is during the line weather that succeeds the heavy 

 rains of the raousoous, and as this season is also tho breed- 

 ing season, the destruction of birds proceeds at such a 

 rate as must soon lead to almost absolute extermination, 

 unless preservative measures are immediately adapted. 

 And the rapid progress towards extermination is cloirly 

 shown by last year's export returns from the port of Madras, 



I have obtained the following return, which exhibits 

 tho shipments from the port of Madras alone : — 



Birds' Skins. 

 Quantity. Value. 



82,100 

 98,300 

 11,275 



B. 



19,S80 



20,"5-S 



i,t;6o 



Birds' Feathers. 



Quantity. Value. 



K. 



1.SSI... 123,175 10.625 



1882... 105,51 5 19,930 



18S3... 167,750 20,'iUO 



As most of these exports go to Hongkong and Singapore 

 it is fair to conclude that Asia East of India has alre.ady 

 become exhausted of bright-j-iumaged birds. It would be 

 interesting to ascertain the exports from the numerous 

 ports on the Western side of India, which, from the 

 quantity of woodland towards the West, probably far ex- 

 ceed the exports from I^Iadras. 



That birds can be very rapidly exterminated we know 

 from experience in other countries. From Bogota in South 

 America, largo supplies of skins and feathers once came. 

 Now none come. The Quezal, or Trogon of Guatemala, 

 has been exterminated in the districts where once it was 

 common, and is now only to be found from three to four 

 hundred miles inland. My own experience too has shown 

 me how rapidly) the process of extermination proceeds. 

 In 1679, when I visited my plantations in Mysore, bright- 

 plumaged birds were numerous When I returned in 

 1881 their numbers had perceptibly dimiuished. Towards 

 the close of last year, when I again visited my estates, 

 the decrease of birds was so marked, that I instituted in- 

 quiries, aud soon found the cause, which I had not pre- 

 viously suspected, and you will not wonder at their rapid 

 diminution when I tell you that, quite early in a recent 

 season, a single bird-catcher in my district had secured four 

 hundred skins. 

 Mr. Elliot ^ops further than prevention: — 



To promote the increase of birds, and spread them 

 throughout the length and breadth of the land, is notlesa 

 important than to prevent their destruction, and in order to 

 effect this, plantations should be formed on the waste lands 

 of every village. Such plantations would at once shelter tho 

 birds, provide fuel (to the saving of the manure now used for 

 that purpose), wood for building and agricultural purposes, 

 shelter for grass and crops, promote the conservation of 

 water and effect a general amelioration of the climate. 



Finally, let mo remark on the need for establishing a 

 close-time for the protection of game-birds. Every civil- 

 ized Government'preserves them, with the exception of that 

 of India, which, with two unimportant exceptions, allows 

 them to be destroyed in any way, and at any season of tbe year. 

 To act thus, is of. course, simply to extinguish a valuable 

 source of food. The almost absolute extermination of game- 

 birds, (which live largely on insects, it may be observed) has 

 already be<^n accomplished in many parts of India. As 

 to the rapidity of this extermination, I can myself bear 

 witness, as Pea-Fowl, ,Tuiigle-Fowl, .Spur-Fowl aud tho 

 Imperial Pigeon, have beeu almost exterminated along 

 the Western districts of Mysore. AVhcn last in India, I 

 saw during a three • months' visit one specimen of the 

 Imperial Pigeon, which I regarded as a curiosity. 'J'he 

 shrill call of the Jungle-Cock, once su(di a familiar sound, 

 is no longer to be beard, and tbe extermination of this 

 bird has been accomplished with a romp'etene.ss I could 

 never have credited had I not bad ample opportunities 

 of observing tho fact. 



In conclusion, permit me to point out that legislation 

 as between mau aud nature is of far more urgent im- 

 portance thau as between man and man, because, what- 

 ever the laws may be which affect our relations with 



