BY R. ILLIDGE. 85 
perhaps, give some idea. It is the most destcuctive of 
all the insects attacking Loranthus, occasionally com- 
pletely denuding it of foliage and even killing the plant. 
The moth is rarely seen. 
Agarista contorta is, next to Agarista agricola, perhaps 
the finest of the genus, which is largely represented in 
Australia. They are day-flyng moths, the present 
species being velvety black with zig-zag yellow markings, 
and a red-tipped body. It is seldom seen, for it frequents 
the tops of the Casuarina trees. The larva is a very hand- 
some one, and is coloured somewhat like the imago, velvet- 
black banded with yellow and orange red. 
Ophiusa tirrhaca and Ophiusa parcemacula are two 
pretty noctuid moths, ochreous or greenish-yellow, with 
black markings. They are amongst those that perforate 
and suck the juices of fruits. 
Xylorycta heliomacula is the imago of a larva that 
bores the stems of the mistletoe, and is richly adorned 
in shining fuscous purple and bright ochreous yellow. 
Delias argenthona Teara Edwardsi 
,, higrina Agarista contorta 
», aganippe Antheraea loranthi 
,», harpalyce Ophiusa tyrrhaca 
Nacaduba palmyra 9 parcemacula 
Pseudodipsas Digglesi Xylorycta heliomacula 
Brisbanensis 
Ogyris amaryllis 
genoveva 
abrota 
NOTE ON THE DISSEMINATION OF THE MISTLE- 
TOK BY BIRDS. 
The most active agents in the dissemination of the 
mistletoe are birds, chief amongst which is undoubtedly 
the Swallow Dicaeum (Dicaeum hirundinaceum). The 
steely blue and vivid crimson plumage of the male of this 
makes it a most conspicuous object amongst the mistletoes 
in flower and fruit. It swallows the berries whole, and the 
undigested seeds pass through still covered with much 
of the viscid matter characteristic of the fruit of this plant. 
