GARDEX AXD ESTATE FRIENDS 60 5 



for 250. MR. GREEN, late Government Entomologist for Ceylon, 

 gives the following as among the more useful insectivorous birds in 

 Ceylon : (1) The Common Hawk Cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius), (2) 

 Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater (Merops philippinus), (3) Black Drongo (Buch- 

 anga atra], (4) Ceylonese White-bellied Drongo (Bttchanga leucopy- 

 gialis), (5) Grey-Headed Fly-catcher (Culidcapa ceylonensis], (6) 

 Magpie Robin (Copyschns sanlaris], (7) Grey-backed Titmouse (Pants 

 alriccps), (8) Common White-eye (Zoster ops palpcbrosa), (9) Cey- 

 lonese White-eye (Zoster ops ceylonensis], (10) Ceylon Myna (Acrid- 

 otheres melanosternus], (11) Black Crow (Corrus macrorhyncha). 

 Number 1 feeds principally upon caterpillars. No. 2 to 9 are 

 generally insectivorous. The large species may often be observed 

 taking toll of the winged termites when these are in flight. No. 10 

 and 11 frequent cattle and help to rid them of biting flies and 

 ticks. The scarcity of bird-life in the higher districts of Ceylon 

 has often been commented upon, and has been attributed, among 

 other causes, to the felling of extensive tracts of forest land for 

 growing tea. etc. One of the best means of encouraging the birds 

 to increase is to extend the growth of trees or shrubs which 

 produce fruit for bird-food, such as Aberici or Ceylon Gooseberry 

 (Ket-embilla), Antidesum* Briddia, Duranln, Eugenia (different 

 species), Ficus (several species), Guava, Lovi-lovi, Mulberry, 

 Debregeasia (Gas-dul) with orange-red berries, Wampi, Lantana,etc. 



Carnivorous insects. In maintaining the balance of insect 

 life in Nature, there occur in various countries various insects of 

 carnivorous habits, and these may as a rule be regarded as the 

 friends of the cultivator. Amongst the most beneficial check- 

 insects are the lady-bird beetles (Vedelia), which subsist on scale- 

 bugs, etc. 



Pollinating insects. In the cultivation of fruits, flowers and 

 vegetables, bees play an important part ; they carry the pollen 

 from one tree to another, thus ensuring the fertilisation or cross- 

 fertilisation of the plants, thereby making fruit and seed more 

 plentiful than would otherwise be the case. A large number of 

 plants are wholly dependent on insects for the fertilisation of their 

 flowers. Thus the successful introduction and cultivation of 

 the Symrna Fig, which is dependent on the Fig insect (Blasiophaga) 

 for the fertilisation of its flowers, in the United States, is due to the 

 artificial introduction of this insect, the cultivation having pre- 

 viously proved a failure. 



