^"IJs"-] From Magazines, &c. igg 



M'Lean is to be congratulated on his dedication of Pseudo- 

 gerygone viadeani, by Mr. Ogilvie-Grant — a slight reward for one 

 who has performed much thorough field-work in the ornithology 

 of the New Zealand Dominion. 



How Snipe Feed.— In The Ibis for October, 1907, Mr. W. H. 



Workman, M.B.O.U., contributes a somewhat technical article 



on " Suggestions as to the Functions of the Entotympanic 



Muscle in the Common Snipe." The writer's conclusion is : — 



" Now we may suppose when these muscles contract they pull 



forward the quadrates and pterygoids. They in turn would 



transmit this movement to the quadrato-jugals, jugals, and maxil- 



laries. The thrust of the maxillary would in turn be conveyed 



to the premaxillary, which naturally would yield at its most 



flexible part — about an inch, in the Common Snipe, from the tip. 



Now that this is what takes place I think may be proved by 



making a dissection as described above, so as to lay bare the 



entotympanic muscle, then move up and down the tip of the 



upper mandible, watching the while the action of the muscles. 



This, taken with the movement of the maxillary when held with 



the forceps as described above, would seem to be fair proof 



that such an action exists. It also seems reasonable to suppose 



that a Snipe which gets its food in soft heavy ground would 



find, on pushing down its long bill, great difficulty in opening 



it enough to grasp the small insects, &c., of the presence of 



which the nerves at the tip of the upper mandible have already 



given warning. How much more easy would it be if only the 



tip were lifted or opened just enough to catch its food, which 



would be firmly held till withdrawn from the ground, when the 



tongue and tooth-like processes on the upper mandible would 



draw the prey into the mouth. Again, if the Snipe was to open 



the whole beak when submerged, mud and other foreign matter 



would fill up the tooth-like processes and interfere with the 



swallowing of the food." 



* * * 



The Parrot Pest in Orchards. — An extraordinary piece 

 of advice is given to orchardists in the current number of TJie 

 Journal of Agriculture. Referring to the ravages of green 

 Parrakeets (Lorikeets) in orchards, the official publication, 

 issued under the authority of the Department of Agriculture, 

 says : — " The best way to deal with the pest is poisoning with 

 .strychnine. Crush the strychnine cr)'stals into a fine powder, 

 like flour; then dust a little of it on apples the Parrots have 

 partially eaten. It is the habit of these birds when they have 

 started on an apple or pear to go back to it again till it is 

 finished, so these are the ones that should be dusted with the 

 strychnine. If there are not enough of these, get a sharp-pointed 



