OCCASIONAL NOTES. 343 
the following extracts, which we have no doubt will be read with interest : 
— Proprietors of pine forests often destroy Capercaillies in the doubtless 
just belief that they do considerable damage to the trees by picking out the 
leading buds, thus dwarfing and rendering the tree unfit for timber. Some 
naturalists, and proprietors of forest land as well, assign the results of 
stunted growth, turfy appearance of young trees, and deterioration of Scotch 
fir in this country to one or both of two other causes :—(a) The importation of 
impure seed, and hybrid ‘ strains,’ causing an inferior growth of less healthy 
wood, less able to stand the rigour of late frosts than the native and 
undegenerate Scotch fir, which latter is still to be found in some parts of 
Scotland, although native and healthy seed is scarce, or becoming so. It 
has been the fashion, too, of late years purposely to plant stunted and 
inferior kinds to provide cover for game. (b) The ravages of insects, 
principally beetles. Of these, Hylurgus piniperda attacks the cores of the 
buds and young shoots, piping the latter, and causing the former to drop 
off, stunting the growth of the trees, and making them bushy and useless. 
Another species bores into the wood and back of the stem, not to speak of 
ten or a dozen other beetles, as well as Tenthredinide, Nematus, Coccus, 
and their larve, which feed upon the leaves. The actual work of destruction 
carried on by the bird and by the insects may perhaps be easily distin- 
guishable in most, if not in all, cases; but the results in after years to the 
trees cannot always be so easily assigned to the work of any one of them. 
To these two causes perhaps a third may be added with safety,—improper 
exposure, insufficient drainage, unsuitable soil; in short, bad forestry, and 
late frosts and bright suns acting upon unacclimatised or inferior plants, no 
doubt in some cases has something to do with it. Arising from these facts 
is the question whether these insects or their larve, individually or 
collectively, attack truly healthy native trees equally with diseased or 
inferior foreign importations. In answer to this we have Mr. Dunn’s 
evidence that they do, but he only speaks of one out of many pine- 
destroying species, viz., Hylurgus piniperda. He informs us that this 
beetle for the most part attacks trees under twenty-five years of age. If, as 
he affirms, Capercaillies only attack trees which are healthy, its attacks 
some day will be confined to trees above that age, if the Hylurgus become 
very populous throughout our forests. Notwithstanding strong evidence to 
the contrary from Mr. Dunn and Mr. Brown, of Perth, Capercaillies feed 
largely upon insects. This is specially the case when birds are young, but 
the probability is that grown birds do so also at certain seasons. We have 
seen that young birds feed largely upon the larvee of Tenthredinide and 
other insects, and insect larvee which live upon or are destructive to pines. 
The questions of interest arising from these facts are :— What appreciable 
damage can be laid to the charge of the insects, individually or collectively, 
or their larve? Mr. Crawford, manager on the property of Clathick, 
