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Xumerous reports testify to the excellence oí the native 

 ^ostrich, or Rhea, as a locust destro3'er. In addition to their 

 special fondness for locusts as food, their large size and corres- 

 ponding capacity render them especiall}^ efficient in this direc- 

 tion. Besides, it is a true dweller on the pampas, and almost 

 the only bird that seems to require no water. Only the other 

 da}^ the folhving account of this bird as a locust destroyer was 

 published in the columns of the Stdiidard : "A swarm of Jiop- 

 pers, which covered an approximate radius of twent)" squares 

 ong by two wide, was completely destroj^ed in five days by 

 lorty-ñve ostriches ". The "Martineta" and ''Perdiz" both feed 

 almost exclusively on locusts during the summer and fall 

 months, while the latter has several times been repoited b)^ our 

 correspondents as a great destroyer of locust-eggs, which it 

 digs up with its beak. It is possibly the destruction of these 

 game birds, to a large extent at least, that has produced the 

 great increase in the destructive locust during the past decade. 



The food of many of the water birds, likewise of nearly all 

 of the sma ler song birds, at times, if not during the greater 

 part of the year, is composed of insects. It is but natural to 

 suppose that a large percentage of these insects are various 

 kinds of locusts. Especially is this the case while the locusts 

 are in the saltona state. This being true, it is quite likely that 

 the most abundant of all locusts, the Schistoccrca paranciisis 

 of Burmeister, should come in for its share of persecution. 



One species of "gaviota" or gull at least has been reported 

 time and again, to eat until full, then to disgorge and begin 

 over again, only to repeat the operation during the entire da}'. 

 In one section of North America, too, the gulls in days gone by. 

 have come to the relief of the settlers when they were being 

 robbed of their crops by a large wingless orthopterous insect. 

 In this case, however, the birds had been protected b}' law 

 from the unscrupulous sportsman. 



Some time ago a certain person advocated, through the me- 

 dium of the newspapers, the introduction into the country of 

 the Starling as a means of ridding the countr\' of the destruc- 

 tive locusts. The idea was an excellent one. Perhaps he was 

 not aware that in the severalspecies of " Pecho-colorado " and 

 the " Pecho-amarillo " we not only have equally active enemies 

 of the locust, but also representatives of the European starling 

 as well. These starlings are among the most useful of insect- 

 destroyers; and, going in flocks as they do, the}' are especiall}- 



