493 



the cuts in one fringe alternate with those in the other. The paper 

 is wound live or six times round the cotton wool, the fringes being at 

 the top edge. Rolls are then made of strips of cotton flannel, 97 in. 

 long by about f in. wide. From 60 to 64 of these are soaked in the 

 following warm mixture : Water 2 litres, sea-salt 50 gm., mercury 

 bichloride 500 gm., alcohol 50 gm. To prepare this the water and 

 salt are heated, and when near boiling point the mercury bichloride 

 is dissolved in it, and finally the alcohol is added. The strips are 

 then unrolled and allowed to dry, and the operation is repeated in a 

 similar solution, with perhaps a little less water. The strip is wound 

 once (with the fluffy side outwards) round the paper band and tied on. 

 The paper fringe is then pressed back so as to protect the poisoned 

 strip from rain. In Madeira these bands are said to remain effective 

 sometimes for as long as a year. 



Lea (A. I\I.). One Year's Food of an Owl near Adelaide. — //. Dept. 

 Agric. Sonih Ansfralia, Adelaide, xxv, no. 11, 15th June 1922, 

 pp. 938-943, 4 figs. 



An examination of one year's food of the Australian variety of the 

 barn owl showed most of it to consist of the remains of sparrows, 

 mice and other birds and small mammals. A small proportion con- 

 sisted of insects, of which the chief species concerned were large night- 

 flying moths and held crickets, Gvyllus servillei. Other insects found 

 were in most cases obviously from the stomachs of the birds eaten. 



Ballard (E.). Tour of the Government Entomologist. — Planters' 

 Chron., Coimhatore, xvii, no. 28, 15th July 1922, pp. 408-413. 



Pests of Tephrosia Candida, which is being increasingly grown, 

 include the Coccids, Ceroplastodes sp. and Ceroplastes sp. ; these infest 

 all the upper parts of the branches, encouraging sooty mould, and 

 sometimes causing death of the branches. Infestation is always 

 worse in open, unshaded areas. The simplest method of reducing 

 damage is to cut the Tephrosia over as soon as heavy infestation is 

 threatened. The monsoon generally reduces the numbers con- 

 siderably. Tephrosia kept for seed is frequently damaged by an 

 Anthribid beetle and by a caterpillar, both of which bore into the pod 

 and devour the seed. If these pests occur the pods should be picked 

 off and destroyed when the first crop of them is half ripe. The second 

 crop should then be practically uninjured and should yield all the seed 

 required. 



The pests found on rubber trees are a species of Lecanium, occurring 

 on the leaves, petioles and branches of Hevea, and causing considerable 

 dropping of the foliage, and a red, flattened caterpillar that feeds 

 under a web on the bark, generally from a height of about 3 ft. from 

 the ground up to the lowest branches There are two, possibly three, 

 generations in a year, the first beginning to appear in January. From 

 May on to December they apparently leave the rubber trees, though 

 individuals were still found in the bush. After feeding for about 

 three weeks, the caterpillar pupates under a piece of bark in the web. 

 The adult is a smaU white, black-spotted moth which emerges ten days 

 later. The caterpillars do not feed on the latex, appearing to confine 

 their attacks to the dead bark, but when they feed on the renewing 

 bark or the tapping surface they are likely to be troublesome. In the 

 latter case tar and tallow has been used with success ; for the former 

 the caterpillars should be scraped off the bark with stiff brushes. 



