66 SECOND REPORT ON ECONOMIC BIOLOGY. 



was distinctly of an insectivorous character in the vicinity of the City 

 of Birmingham, and that during those months the evidence from the 

 food generally would lead us to place this species amongst those birds 

 beneficial to the agriculturist and horticulturist, but a similar record 

 extending over the same period taken in an agricultural district would, 

 in all probability, reveal the starling as a destroyer of newly-sown 

 grain, and extended over the summer months, would show that it 

 inflicts considerable losses upon fruit growers. In short, we have too 

 many starlings. A correspondent writing from the eastern counties 

 states " this species has increased in these parts during 1911 by many 

 thousands ; as a careful observer, I have no hesitation in stating that 

 we have now twenty or thirty times as many starlings as we had four 

 or five years ago." 



THE PAVING BLOCK FUNGUS. 



Lentinus lepideus, Fr. 



Two inquiries have been received during the past year with refer- 

 ence to the rotting of pinewood paving blocks. 



The cause of this rotting is due to a fungus known as Lentinus 

 lepideus, and its biology has been very carefully worked out by Dr. 

 A. H. R. Buller, 1 who, in his account, remarks : " The principal 

 streets of our large towns are now to a large extent paved with wood. 

 The cost of such paving and the inconvenience of repairs are only too 

 well known to the public." 



The fungus acts upon coniferous wood both physically and 

 chemically, destroying the cellulose and leaving behind a red friable 

 substance, which becomes spongy when wet. 



The blocks of wood in general use are simply dipped in creosote, 

 thus preserving a thin layer of the outside only. If the blocks are 

 fully impregnated with creosote the ravages of the fungus are 

 prevented. The extra cost of fully creosoted blocks, over those which 

 are merely dipped in creosote, is considerable, but it seems more than 

 likely that the extra cost would be wisely laid out in view of the costly 

 nature of the repairs that have to frequently take place in streets laid 

 with dipped blocks, 



1 Journ. Kcon. Biol., 1905, vol. i, pp. 2-13, pits, i, ii. 



