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seemingly only for the purpose oi' killing something. Birds 

 are not alone among the victims that are claimed to satisfy 

 this inborn desire for killing. Every toad, frog, lizard, mouse, 

 weasel; in fact, anything, save really injurious animals, seems 

 to be pounced upon and destroyed whenever and wherever 

 encountered. 



It cannot be for securing food that this reckless and wanton 

 destruction of life goes on, for not one in ten of the animals 

 thus destroyed is eaten or intended for this purpose. If only 

 this same craving could be satisfied by thedeath of locusts how 

 quickly could the locust-plague problem be settled. Equip 

 the boys and men with death-dealing devices and turn them 

 loose in a close manga of the voracious acridian and how the 

 " angel death " would enter his ranks! There would be car- 

 nage enough, methinks, to satisfy the most fastidious. 



Joking aside. This state of affairs must be changed ; and 

 until it is, the people of Argentina, and for that matter of any 

 country Avhere like conditions exist, will be obliged to suiter 

 from the ravages of locusts and other insect-pests. Not only 

 will present conditions prevail, but as time goes on these pests 

 will increase year by year as their natural checks are more 

 and more removed. 



ether Vertebrate Enemies. 

 Batrachians and Reptiles. 



Next to birds in their importance, among the vertebrate ene- 

 mies of locusts, follow quite closely the various kinds of toads, 

 frogs, lizards and serpents. In fact by far the greater part of 

 the food of these animals is composed of insects. 



It is needless to state that during th¿ saltona state very large 

 numbers of the destructive locust are destroyed by each class 

 of these animals. The various kinds of toads, especially, are 

 very active destroyers of the pest at this time as I can testify 

 from personal observation at a number of different places in 

 the Republic during the past 40 days. Hundreds of these animals 

 were on several occasions observed in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood of mangas of the insects. Especially were they numerous 



