480 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 
form a large portion of its food. At the Zoological Gardens we 
are making another effort to establish this delightful songster by 
enclosing the birds in a large wire aviary filled with shrubs, and 
letting only the young birds go free. 
Considerable sums of money have been expended by the Society 
in the introduction of. the skylark, but so far almost without 
success. Here and there a few birds are still to be seen, and their 
delicious song heard, but they are few and far between. Yet 
everything is in their favour here in regard to climate and suitable 
country, but the reason of their non-success is apparently due to 
the ever-active and numerous hawks in the air, added to the many 
enemies I have already enumerated on the ground. 
About ten years ago the Society liberated a few starlings, 
obtained from New Zealand, in the University grounds here and 
in the Zoological Gardens. The success of this experiment has 
been very marked. Not only have they succeeded, but they have 
increased to large numbers ; flocks of several hundreds may now 
frequently be seen. They migrate every year, most likely to the 
north, and regularly return about November. This is strange, as 
the starling is not strictly a migratory bird. As is well known, 
these interesting birds are insectivorous in their habits, and are 
looked upon justly with favour even in quarters where most birds 
are viewed with a suspicious eye. 
The Indian minah, introduced in the year 1862, has spread all 
over the neighbourhood of Melbourne. They are insectivorous 
birds, and no doubt do much good by destroying countless insect 
pests, but as they also eat fruit an outcry has been raised against 
them. Victorians have been so accustomed, of late years, to a 
plentiful supply of vegetables that thay forget that it is to such 
birds as the Indian minah and the sparrow that they are indebted 
in this respect. Before these much abused, but in many respects 
most useful, birds were introduced, cabbages, cauliflowers and 
many other vegetables could not be grown successfully, they 
were so covered with aphis, but now such a thing is rarely seen. 
The same may be said of roses, which were formerly infested with 
aphis. I have often watched a sparrow on a rosebush busy in 
clearing off the aphis with which it was thickly covered. 
The English robin, the goldfinch, the linnet, and many other 
small birds have been introduced and liberated, but they have 
not succeeded. It is very different in New Zealand, where all 
the European birds seem to answer admirably. Pheasants, 
blackbirds, thrushes, skylarks, and numerous other birds have 
not only succeeded, but in some instances become a nuisance from 
their increasing numbers. 
I may say that the result of acclimatisation in this colony has 
taken everyone interested in the subject by surprise. The rabbit 
goes on breeding at an astonishing rate all the year round. The 
hare, which in England rarely produces more than two at a birth, 
