90 FR0<;H(»1'I'ER lilJGHT OF SUGAR-CANE. 



Several planters jjave remarked to me on the great reduction in 

 ground-doves as a proof of the ravages of the mongoose, but this bird 

 does not eat froghoppers, and in my own experience it is one of the 

 commonest bu'ds in the ("aroni district, where the mongoose abounds, 

 .and though lai-ge tloeks of tliem are to be seen on tlie ground there, 

 tliirty-six mongoose stomaelis from this estate did not contain the traces 

 of a single bird. 



The mongoose cannot climb and has to confine its attention to birds 

 which nest or feed on the ground, and it will be seen from the account 

 of the bird enemies of the froghopper (p. 70) that the chief of these are 

 not ground-nesting birds. The most important of all — the Scissors-tail 

 Fly-catcher — does not breed in Trinidad, while the others mostly nest in 

 bushes and trees well away from the ground. The only two which nest 

 within reach of the mongoose are the Black-finch and the lied-breast. 

 both of which are of little importance, and yet at the same time cannot 

 be considered rare in the cane districts. In addition the mongoose eats 

 rats which are able to climb and destroy the eggs and young of many 

 tree-nesting birds {see below). 



The destruction of lizards and toads is a more serious charge and it 

 is hoped to start an investigation of the food of these in the coming year. 



At the same time attention must be drawn to the figures given in 

 Table IV of my report on the food of the mongoose (Williams 1919 A. 

 p. 184). The number of lizards, snakes, frogs and toads found in thirty- 

 six stomachs at Caroni, a locality for many j-ears heavily infested with 

 mongoose was in each case greater than the number found in forty stomachs 

 from the Southern district, where the mongoose has only recently 

 become numerous. Although the excess is not great, yet it is entirely 

 contradictory to wh;it would be expected if the mongoose had been the 

 chief factor in the supposed reduction of these animals in recent years. 



(d.) Trinidad, and other covintries to which the mongoose has been 

 introduced, are bj' no means the only places in the world which have 

 suffered from insect pests of recent years, nor are they the only countries 

 which complain of a reduction of natural wild life. 



As a result of these considerations one is forced to the conclusion that 

 the inoiiijoose although dovhths'i Hiide-dirubfe, and ponsihly to a very limited exttnt 

 contributory to recent outbreul:^ of pests, is not the one cause, nor is it eren one of 

 the most important causes, of the outbreals o/ froyhojjper blight in Trinidad. 



Two yjohits of interest in connection with the mnngoose have been 

 settled since m}' report in 1919. The centipede whicli was found repre- 

 sented in fourteen stomachs was identified bj^ the Imperial Bureau of 

 Entomology as Scolopendra angidata, Newport. 



I submitted to the same Bureau some preserved skins of mongoose, 

 with the idea that their destruction might be encouraged and made 

 more profitable if a market could be found for the skins. The reply, 

 which was as follows, is not encouraging. 



"I submitted the skins of the mongoose to the Imperial Institute and 

 asked them to make enquiries as to their market value. They have 

 written to me to say that the replies they have received are very 

 unpromising and indicate that the skins have no commercial value. One 

 firm stated that they would come into competition with ordinary squirrel 

 skins, etc., and might possibly be valued at |d. (1 cent) each." 



• 



Rats. 

 On several occasions rats have been found to destroy the nests and 

 eggs of birds, and in this habit they have the advantage over the 

 mongoose in that they can climb trees and reach the nests of tree and 

 bush-living species. 



