MASON AND LEFROT. 85 



insects, chiefly ants and cicadellaB, and various small larvae off buds 

 and leaves, and not ^infrequently seeking them on the ground. 



465. Prinia sylvatica. Jungle Wren-warbler. 



8-2-09. 1. Acantholepis fraucnfeldi var. bipartita. 



1. Coleopterous grub. 



Some buds and vegetable matter. 



466. Prinia inornata. Indian Wren- warbler. Insects on 

 bushes, &c. Jerd. B. I., II, 179. True friend of the husbandman, 

 since it feeds exclusively on insects. Dewar, B. P., 220. 



That the smaller warblers, those especially of the genus Phyl- 

 loscopus may be regarded as beneficial is correct. There are but 

 few exceptions to their general beneficial feeding qualities, and in 

 India at present nothing is said against them. Those few species 

 about which we have some definite knowledge, are all neutral or 

 beneficial, one, at any rate, P. tristis, being known to take the 

 Cotton Aphis freely, and these insects (Aphides) will, in all pro- 

 bability, be found to form a portion of the food of every species. 

 Some English species are at times undoubted pests of garden 

 fruits, but this is in most cases counterbalanced by the numbers 

 of insects consumed. In India their fruit-eating propensities 

 would certainly not tell against them in the plains, most species 

 being only cold weather migrants, but it is quite possible that some 

 may be found to do local damage to fruits in the hills. We have 

 no records of this at present. 



LANIID^E. 



SHRIKES. 



MalaconincB. The retiring members of this subfamily are com- 

 monly seen hopping or climbing about thick undergrowth in search 

 of insects and their larvae, or hunting for worms and spiders on the 

 grounds. 



Pachycephalince. The majority of the members hop actively 

 about leafy trees, or search the ground for insects, their larvae and 

 berries. 



