134 THE USEFUL BIRDS 



fruit, in autumn upon lato apples. Certainly its taste for 

 commercial fruits is cultivated when opportunity stares it 

 in the face, but what about the good which I am sure it 

 does ? I remember seeing a Silver-eye hunting along a 

 branch of a tall pear tree. An insect fell from its hiding 

 place, and simultaneously the bird swooped perpendicularly 

 in time to catch the lesser form, and with a right-angled 

 movement escaped the ground, to which it was unpleasantly 

 close. 



It is the scourge of the aphis and other noxious insects 

 when there is no fruit upon the tree, giving special attention 

 in the wild timber to the Acaci;e. I will quote a case beyond 

 my own knowledge of its special service. Mr. W. H. F. Hill 

 writes : — 



" Amongst the birds the Silver-eye, Zosterops cfrrulescens, 

 is the chief enemy of the Case Moth, destroying the young 

 larvfe in great numbers. Indeed, but for these useful little 

 birds the Case Moths might easily become a serious insect 

 pest, as they threaten to be in the various city parks and 

 enclosures where the Silver-eye does not dare to go. 



"During the autumn and winter months immbers of White- 

 eyes come into the gardens in towns and eat off vast quantities 

 of aphides from chrysanthemums and rose bushes. When 

 pear slugs are full grown they feed on these to a large extent. 

 Numbers of codlin moth grubs and other noxious insects are 

 cleared off the trees or picked up on the ground by these 

 industrious little birds. I am sure if anyone takes the 

 trouble to observe them for a short time he will be convinced 

 that their good deeds more than counterbalance their evil, 

 and that without fear or hesitation they can be counted 

 among the farmer's feathered friends — one that in a quiet, 

 unostentious manner helps him in his daily fight against the 

 multitude of pests with which he is waging continual 

 warfare." 



