106 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



and when it alights it moves its wings up and down once or 

 twice in the manner usual to most of the species of this group, 

 and then places them in the position as explained above. 

 This is the first instance that has ever come under my notice in 

 which the perfect insect adopts this singular position when at rest, 

 and it would be most interesting to learn if anyone else has 

 noticed any other instance of this peculiarity ; so far I have been 

 unable to find anyone who has done so. Why it should rest in 

 this manner and not in the ordinary way I have been unable to 

 form any idea, unless it serves as an additional means of protec- 

 tion from its numerous enemies ; but one would think that, as it 

 chooses as its resting places situations in which the surroundings 

 so closely resemble its own colour, and resting so closely against 

 the object as to form nothing to attract the eye, it was already 

 sufficiently protected. I should not be at all surprised to find 

 that somewhat similar instances occur amongst some of the closely 

 allied Queensland forms, although I have been unable, so far, to 

 find any reference to it. In the " Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 1888" 

 (p. 833), Meyrick records an instance in which a new species of 

 Hesperiadae from Western Australia, Exometmca nycteris, Meyr., 

 " sits on a twig with the wings directed perpendicularly forward 

 (as in a bat), projecting on the side of the under-surface of 

 thorax, so as to enclose the legs, whereas in the ordinary species 

 of the family they are usually directly reversed — carried erect 

 over the back." 



My best thanks are due to Mr. Ernest Anderson for kindly 

 furnishing the illustration. 



Parrots and Scale Insects. — The oaks in the Fitzroy 

 Gardens are at the present time being injured by a species of 

 scale insect, Planchonia quercicola. Various means, such as 

 cutting off the branches, spraying the trees, &c, are being used 

 to extirpate the disease, but they do not appear likely to be 

 successful. As in other cases, Nature, however, seems to have 

 provided a remedy. In this instance it is in the form of the 

 well-known Rosella Parrot, Platycercus eximius. The other 

 day I noticed a number of these birds running their bills round 

 the twigs and small branches of several oaks, and, watching them 

 carefully for some time, saw that they confined their attention 

 exclusively to these portions of the trees. The buds were not 

 interfered with in any way, and it was easily seen that not a 

 single one was broken off while the birds were scraping the stems 

 clean and burrowing in the small forks for the clusters of insects 

 which usually exist there. In order to obtain further evidence 

 I climbed one of the trees, and, examining the branches where 

 the birds had been feeding, found that numerous twigs were 



