140 Stray Feather^;. [ ,,f ^an. 



about a leafless tree and in a short time clear it of many 

 obnoxious insects." In Victoria French marks it as one of the 

 most destructive visitants to orchards and vineyards, while 

 Robert Hall says — " It is the scourge of the aphis and other 

 noxious insects when there is no fruit upon the tree," and quotes 

 Hill, from The Victorian Naturalist, as writing that "the White- 

 eye is the chief enemy of the case moth, destroying the young 

 larvae in great numbers ; indeed, but for these useful little birds 

 the case moths might easily become a serious insect pest." So, 

 at a Fruit-Growers' Conference held at Dunedin, New Zealand, 

 in 1901, one grower (very appropriately named " Grapes"), who 

 attended and spoke, said the species was in his opinion one of 

 the worst birds for the fruit garden, while Morrison considered 

 that it was the best friend they had in his district (Mahurangi), 

 although the easiest of all to poison : a great deal of spraying 

 was done, and the insects thus poisoned were eaten by thousands. 

 An observer, writing in the "Transactions of the New Zealand 

 Institute," makes the curious statement that when the White-eye 

 grew numerous and bold, and took to invading the garden, and 

 setting its nest in, rather than suspending it from, a bush or 

 thicket, it laid in that case four eggs to the clutch, instead of the 

 former three, as though the change of climate (for he believed 

 the bird not to be indigenous) had caused it to lose its fear of 

 marauders and also increased its fecundity. The same writer 

 also mentions that the Zosterops is very easily tamed when 

 young, and instances one which grew so familiar that it was 

 allowed the freedom of the house, and used to hop about the 

 table while the family was at dinner and help itself to whatever 

 it fancied ! Having heard, on one or two occasions, a sweet 

 little strain of song, he thinks only a few individuals have this 

 power of utterance, although it may be possessed by nearly all. 

 My own opinion, based mainly on bush experiences at Table 

 Cape, is that the power of song is possessed by all male White- 

 eyes, but the strain is so inward, so subdued, that it is not heard 

 at all unless one happens to be close to the bush in which the 

 songster is concealed. A quite recent note on this occurrence 

 (9th October, 1906) runs :— "A male of this species was heard to 

 sing very sweetly in a tree-lupin near my cottage at West Devon- 

 port; the strain is very gentle and inward, and can be heard to 

 advantage only when close to the bush, which near approach the 

 little songster will allow, being so wrapped up in his love-ditty 

 that he is unconscious of all else. This fact, among others, 

 makes me discredit the assertion recently made by an English 

 writer that bird-song is wholly induced by a spirit of emulation 

 and self-assertion. It may well be conceded that the loud, bold 

 whistle of the Shrike-Thrush or ringing laugh of the Butcher- 

 Bird are actuated by the spirit of rivalry ; but no one who has 

 spent his leisure hours in watching and listening to the smaller 



