THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 131 



THE LOCUST PLAGUE. 



A CORRESPONDENT at Murtoa, in the Wimmera district, forwards 

 the following notes on this subject: — 



" They appear to fly in swarms, in size varying from a few 

 yards wide to over a mile, and of great length, as sometimes 

 the flight continues from half an hour to an hour without the 

 slightest break. They fly about 20 to 25 feet above the ground, 

 and seem to be able to sustain themselves on the wing for a long 

 distance, and I fancy those which rest, except for feeding 

 purposes, are younger and weaker than the company they are in. 

 They evidently camp at night. I went out about half-past eight 

 for the purpose of catching some ; they were all on the move as 

 soon as they heard me, but only used their legs, and did not 

 attempt to fly. They did not do much damage to the wheat 

 crops in this district ; but the grass paddocks were cleared right 

 off in a day or two, so that the farmers will be obliged to se'l 

 their sheep at once for what they will fetch, as they have no 

 feed left. They appear to be a bit dainty in their tastes, as they 

 ate all the leaves off the ' Scotch thistles,' but would not touch 

 the so-called ' sow thistles,' which is somewhat fortunate, as 

 stock are very fond of the latter. In passing through the crops 

 they took the flag off the wheat, and all the wild oats and wheat, 

 so that in several places there is nothing left but the ears of 

 wheat on the tops of bare stems. They cut off a few ears of 

 wheat, but they were in all cases those of shorter and later 

 straws ; the others appear to have been too hard for them. 

 The consequence is that the loss is small, and, possibly, what 

 are left have a better chance of maturing. They do not appear 

 to eat the ears cut off as they drop down on to the ground and 

 wither away. At a distance the swarms of locusts looked just 

 like the dust raised by a flock of sheep, and more than one 

 farmer was deceived in this way, and could not make out how 

 sheep had got into his paddocks. Any gardens Avhich happened 

 to be in their line of flight suffered very severely. The fowls 

 chased and ate great quantities of them, and for a time this new 

 diet rendered the }'olks of their eggs quite red." 



Mr. J. W. Pickering, of St. Geo.^ge's Vineya.rd, Great Western, 

 a member of the F.N.C of Victoria, writes as follows : — 

 " Some days ago the main army of the locusts visited this 

 neighbourhood and did a vast amount of damage, especially 

 favouring mangolds, rape, peas, beans, green cereals, and 

 cherries 3 the stalks of the latter they bit through, causing the 

 fruit to fall. The vines, fortunately, did not suit their taste, and 

 so escaped, except a few of the youngest and tenderest shoots. 



