332 NATURAL SCIENCE. 



July, 



were found lying outside the coop the following morning. The 

 owlets were at once returned to the place from whence they were 

 taken. The kestrel hawk, a great killer of mice, is another bird 

 which merits protection, and it is much to be desired that game 

 preservers would give their keepers stringent orders not to molest it. 

 To such an extent is the destruction of our native birds carried on, 

 that it IS not improbable further legislation in the matter will be 

 called for, and it is to be hoped the Board of Agriculture will con- 

 tinue to prosecute their inquiries into the pecuniary loss accruing 

 from such destruction." 



The Revue Scientifique records that the enthusiastic protector of 

 birds in France, M. Xavier Raspail, has just issued a letter to the 

 Minister of the Interior, pointing out how the laws against bird 

 destruction are openly violated by farmers. He states that of 15,544 

 birds destroyed, some 13,000 of them are known to feed on insects. 

 He points out especially that the cultivation of wheat is becoming 

 less and less remunerative, and one of the causes is traceable to the 

 destruction of larks, whose food largely consists of the larva of a 

 beetle, Agriotes striatns, whose ravages to the roots of wheat are well 

 known. Vine growers complain of the scarcity of bird life in the 

 vineyards, and perhaps the very best method of compelling the 

 obstinate to understand is to pit them against their more sensible 

 brethren. The Zoologist for May reprints portions of Messrs. Dudgeon 

 and Davidson's reports on the plague of field mice in Scotland. 

 They are stated to be " swarming in millions," and the cause of the 

 pest is definitely said " to be the destruction of the natural enemies 

 of the voles — hawks, owls, weasels, &c., and it has been remarked 

 that, where plantations are present, affording roosting for birds of 

 prey, the districts in their vicinity are less seriously affected." And 

 again, during a similar outbreak in 1875, large accumulations of the 

 casts of owls, consisting of the fur and half digested skins of mice, 

 were seen on every hand. The report is very convincing, and should 

 be circulated broadcast throughout the country by those responsible 

 for general agricultural prosperity. The subject is attracting atten- 

 tion in the proper quarter already, for it is stated that the Royal 

 Agricultural Society are contemplating the appointment of an 

 economic ornithologist. 



The large number of 260 elephants have recently been captured 

 in the Garo Hills by a party of hunters headed by Mr. Savi, 

 superintendent of Keddahs at Dacca. 



As an instance of the sudden destruction of animal life, it is 

 interesting to note that, on the occasion of some heavy rains in Texas 

 recently, so much sediment was carried to the rivers and streams 

 that the water became so thick as to kill the fish, which floated by 

 thousands down the flood. 



