22 SCIENCE BULLETIN, No. 15. 



APPENDICES. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO APPENDICES I AND II. 



J. B. CLELAND, M.B., Principal Microbiologist, Department of Public Health. 



THE following list comprises complete details of an examination of the 

 contents of stomachs and crops of Australian birds conducted over a 

 series of years for the purpose of ascertaining their feeding habits and 

 their value or otherwise to the community. After the scientific name, and 

 the popular name, the locality, accompanied by the date, is given, each bird 

 examined being treated individually. The first detail given is the rough 

 field classification of the contents by which they are drafted, according to 

 their nature, to the botanist, the entomologist, &c., for further identifica- 

 tion. The value of inserting this provisional classification chiefly lies in the 

 misinterpretations that may be made by the ornithologist in the field when 

 examining the contents of the stomachs of the birds he has shot, and shows 

 how this must often be qualified by a later examination made by a 

 specialist. Unless such later examinations are made by those specially 

 skilled in the subject dealt with, erroneous .conclusions may sometimes be 

 drawn from observations made in the field. 



As regards the identification of the birds, in most cases I am responsible 

 for these, but when in doubt have submitted specimens for further identifica- 

 tion to the late Mr. A. J. North, of the Australian Museum, to Mr. Gregory 

 M. Mathews, or to Mr. Lancelot Harrison. During the later examinations Dr. 

 Ferguson has been associated with me in identifying the birds, and drafting 

 their stomach contents, and is also responsible for certain of the insect 

 identifications. The majority of the entomological identifications have 

 been made by Mr. W. W. Froggatt, Government Entomologist, assisted by 

 Mr. W. B. Gurney, Assistant Entomologist. The examination of seeds and 

 vegetable matter has been conducted by Mr. J. H. Maiden, Government 

 Botanist, with the assistance of Mr. Ewen McKinnon, Mr. W. M. Carne, 

 Mr. A. A. Hamilton, and Mr. E. Breakwell. We are also indebted to other 

 specialists, more particularly Mr. Charles Iledley, Assistant Curator of the 

 Australian Museum, and Mr. A. R. McCulloch, of the Australian Museum, 

 for special identifications. 



Whilst the majority of the birds have been collected by myself, chiefly 

 in New South Wales, but also in South Australia, Western Australia, 

 Tasmania, and its dependent islands, we are indebted for a very consider- 

 able number to Dr. T. L. Bancroft, of Eidsvold, Queensland, and to Dr. 

 MacGillivray, of Broken Hill, both of whom have supplied specimens of 

 Queensland birds. Mr. T. McCarthy, assistant to Entomologist, Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, has also collected and examined birds for us. In 



