INTRODUCTION 31 



large population of civilised beings, acclimatisation must take 

 place on a large scale. Food supplies were, therefore, the first 

 consideration. Sheep and cattle and other animals found a 

 climate resembling that of their native country, and pastures 

 which could not be surpassed. Like their predecessors, the 

 "Captain Cooks," they throve very well and grew fat. Large 

 cattle and sheep runs were formed, and when the needs of 

 the settlers were satisfied, there was established an export 

 trade in wool and mutton that has attained to great dimensions. 



Rabbits, pheasants, the honey-bee, and later on, quail, hares, 

 deer, and trout and other food fishes were also introduced. 

 The trout, it may be stated here, feed on the aquatic larvae of 

 insects that furnish food for birds, and the decline of our two 

 bats may be due to this fact. The white clover did not seed 

 in New Zealand until the honey-bee was imported in 1842, 

 and for a long time the colonists had to import their supplies 

 of red clover. To meet this difficulty, they introduced the 

 humble-bee, and the red clover now seeds freely. 



The cultivation of cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips and other 

 succulent plants was followed by an alarming increase in the 

 numbers of native insects. Armies of caterpillars invaded the 

 fields and consumed the crops. It was hardly possible to open 

 a pea-pod without finding a caterpillar inside ; and, in the 

 Auckland district, dismayed settlers saw fields of maize under 

 bare poles, not a leaf remaining. The food supply of the 

 insects had been increased enormously, and they were not 

 slow to respond. 



It was decided that the best plan to adopt, to make agricul- 

 ture and horticulture possible, was to introduce insect-eating 

 birds. But it was recognised that these birds must not live 

 on insects alone. There is no winter retreat for insect-eaters 

 in New Zealand, as there is in Europe ; and if they could not 

 sustain themselves on vegetable food in the winter months, 

 when the insects were absent, they would perish. The field of 

 selection was therefore restricted to birds which would eat 

 both seeds and insects, Avhich would not try to migrate, and 

 which would become common. 



