THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 283 
speedily finishes them. Fancy yourself annoyed with living 
torments, in proportionate size, robbing your veins, with 
a want of nourishment to supply the loss. Birds, in nests, are 
generally attacked most under their wings; and it is very 
often the case you will find some of the bugs in their ears. 
Now, the greater part of this may be prevented by supplying 
clean nests, well-shaped and rounded with a proper-formed 
iron or egg, making it resemble, as much as possible, the old 
ones containing the young birds, which, when taken away, 
may be destroyed by burning. Young birds, when caged off, 
should be put in thoroughly clean cages, and, at about five 
weeks old, they will begin to crack canary-seed. Encourage 
seed-eating by gradually taking them off egg and soft food. 
Supply fresh water daily, with good grit-sand in their cages. 
Keep the young out of draughts ; for when once a young bird 
is seized with cold it is a chance it lives. Do not supply 
whole hemp-seed too soon; by so doing you try their tender 
mandibles. Be careful (if green food is at all given) in 
selecting only the seedy parts, such as the tops of groundsel, 
shepherd’s purse and plantain; but all must be ripe. My 
choicest birds (Belgians) I never supply with green food 
after they are caged off, for it encourages purging. When 
purging does happen keep the birds warm, apply one or two 
drops of castor-oil, and after that give bread and milk 
sweetened with honey, and, if possible, soou remove the 
birds to a large cage or room, for a fly, which so much 
promotes strength. I do not advise anyone to keep their 
birds in damp places; but I have always found less or no 
vermin there exist— Geo. J. Barnesby ; Abbey Street, Derby. 
The Tsetse.—The plains on the south side of the Lobombo 
Mountains, towards Delagoa Bay, was the only district where 
I met with the tsetse fly, and immediately below the moun- 
tain they seemed more numerous than at a greater distance. 
The belief of the natives in the dangerous character of the fly 
is universal; and I never heard any doubt expressed about it 
among the white hunters, many of whom have come to this 
district for many years. We were told that if we took our 
dogs over the mountains they would be bitten by the fly, 
would go blind in a few days, and die in ten days or a 
fortnight. The fly, which was pointed out to us as the 
tsetse, was very like a small horse-fly (cleg, as they are 
