Vol. XXI.I 

 1922 J 



SLANEV, Birds and the Caterpillar Pest. 239 



tliey ])]ace the stem or leaf of the food plant upon which they 

 are feeding between themselves and the rays of the sun, so that 

 wiiilst walking casually through a paddock with one's back to the 

 sun their presence will remain unnoticed. Turn, however, and 

 face towards the sun, and the ground seems black with them. 



Aided by a succession of south-west winds, the moth has beer 

 distributed almost universally over the State, and any solution 

 of the problem involves its destruction also. Experiments should 

 be conducted to determine the best means of trapping or gassing 

 them. In the meantime every possible encouragement should 

 be given to the fostering of all the night-feeding birds — Frog 

 mouths, Owls and Nightjars — and a rigid protection be extended 

 to the ground-feeding Quail, Plover, Curlew, Ibis, and others. 

 In America, acting under the advice of the U.S.A. Bureau of 

 Ornithology^ at Washington, many of the States have been re- 

 stocked with the "Bob \\'hite" — a Ouail somewhat similar to our 

 Stubble Quail, with remarkable results, and the time is not far 

 distant when similar action will have to be taken here. 



Notes 



CENTRAL QUEENSLANT) NATIVE BIRDS' ASSO- 

 CIATION. 



The Hon. Secretary of the Central Queensland Native Birds' 

 Protection Association, Mr. P. V. Maloney, is m receipt of the 

 following letter, dated the 3rd instant, from the Under-Secre- 

 tary for Agriculture and Stock, Mr. E. G. E. Scriven: — "I de- 

 sire to inform you that His Excellency tlie Governor, with the 

 advice of the Executive Council, has, in pursuance of the pro- 

 visions of the Native Birds' Protection Acts, 1877 to 1884, been 

 pleased to declare Great Keppel Island to be a reserve under and 

 for the purpose of the above-mentioned Acts. Notifications of 

 the same will appear in the Government Gazette of to-day's 

 date, a copy of which will be forwarded to you in due course." 

 Mr. Maloney writes as follows : — In order to preserve the bird 

 life on these islands, I moved in April last, through the associa- 

 tion, to have North and South Keppel islands made sanctuaries 

 for their protection, and the lessees fell in with my views and 

 agreed to the move. From personal observations and periodical 

 trii)s to the Keppel Islands I found that hundreds of birds from 

 the mainland have made their way there. A few years ago there 

 were only sea birds to be found on the islands. I attribute the 

 increase to the onward march of closer settlement along our 

 coastline from Yeppoon. Many birds have been driven out in 

 consequence, and have now made the islands their breeding 

 haunts. Unfortunately at Easter time and Christmas time there 

 seems to be a wide-spread passion among camping parties for 

 the indiscriminate killing of these birds, and it was lamentable 



