246 



ZOOLOGICAL GAKIJLNS. 



Little attention has been paid to the habits of these 

 birds in a state of nature, but it is probable that they 

 are identical with those of the species with which 

 M. Cuvier has united them. Few birds have been 

 more celebrated than the latter as the subjects of 

 experiments in agriculture ; their propensity to the 

 wholesale destruction of insects having led to their 

 introduction into the Isle of Bourbon for the express 

 purpose of protecting the colony against the flights of 

 locusts by which it had previously been devastated; a 

 service which they were found to perform with the 

 greatest success. In captivity the present species is 

 extremely tractable, and readily learns to imitate words 

 and other sounds, and even to whistle a variety of 

 tunes. For this purpose it is very commonly kept in 

 cages by the Chinese, who feed it upon rice and 

 insects. 



