NOTES AND QUERIES. 207 
quarters in the young shoots. The labours of the birds, it was 
quite apparent, were not in vain, as they could quite well be 
seen picking the beetles from the shoots, at times perched on 
twigs scarcely strong enough to carry their own weight, at 
others hovering on wing among the points of the branches. I 
have not hitherto heard of the much-maligned rook being 
regarded as a friend of the forester in this respect, and I think 
the incident worthy of record among the Notes in the Society’s 
Transactions. J. Boyp, 
Pollok. 
THE BrrcH AND ALDER SAW-ELY. 
While combating an attack of pine saw-fly (Lophyrus fini) 
in a young plantation at Corrour, Inverness-shire, in the 
month of July 1905, my attention was called by one of the 
workmen to a similar attack among birch and alder, on the 
latter especially, in an adjoining plantation. These caterpillars at 
first sight seemed to be the same as those on the pines, the 
size and marking of the two bearing so close a resemblance 
to each other, especially when at rest, that the mistake of the 
workman in concluding they were one and the same was 
quite excusable. But on being disturbed, the caterpillars showed 
a marked contrast in their behaviour to those on the pines, 
for instead of clinging to the leaf with the sucker feet and 
raising the head, as is done by those of the pine saw-fly, they 
clung by the true feet and raised their posterior extremity, a 
phenomenon which was also frequently observed when they 
were feeding. I had some specimens forwarded to Mr 
Gillanders, who named it Vematus. I am not aware of 
this insect having been previously recorded in Scotland, nor 
is Mr Gillanders, although he informs me he has seen it in 
England. j. Boyan; 
Pollok. 
EXPERIMENT WITH LIME AND ARSENIATE OF SODA FOR 
PROTECTION AGAINST THE PINE WEEVIL. 
In the case of the lime experiment, the method followed was to 
put a handful of fresh-ground lime round the neck of each plant 
in one of the worst-infested portions of the plantation. This was 
done in May, but it did no good, and we had to gather the 
weevils in June, as many as sixteen being found on one plant, 
