10 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



ornithological friends, to be able to render the collection tolerably 

 complete. The same remarks will apply to the noxious insects 

 of the colony. The collection of these, in a practical and 

 comprehensive manner, will, it is hoped, be of great use to growers 

 generally. To all engaged in either farming or fruit-growing, the 

 preservation of our useful friends, the insect-destroying birds, is, 

 in my opinion, of the very greatest importance. Nature main- 

 tains a balance between the numbers of the birds, beasts, insects, 

 plants, &c., in any district. If, by artificial means, we destroy this 

 balance, immediately intolerable numbers of some kinds remain 

 with us, and we have to expend much money and labour to rid 

 ourselves of the swarms which nature was ready to dispose of for 

 us gratis. 



Some writer has well said, as quoted by Mr. Tryon in his valu- 

 able book on the fungus and insect pests of Queensland : — " If 

 the arrangements of nature were left undisturbed, the result would 

 be a wholesome equilibrium of destruction. The birds would 

 kill so many insects that the insects could not kill too many 

 plants. One class is a match for the other. A certain insect 

 was found to lay 2,000 eggs, but a single tomtit was found to 

 eat 200,000 eggs in a year. A swallow devours 543 insects in 

 a day, eggs and all," There is the whole case in a nutshell. 

 The birds will do yeoman service and ask for no wages. The 

 question will naturally be asked, how, and by what means is the 

 wholesale destruction of our insectivorous birds to be checked ? 

 This would seem to be a somewhat difificult question to answer, 

 for have we not already game laws ? But are they carried out ? I 

 am afraid not, as the formidable array of many of the protected 

 birds to be seen in the hands of the holiday sportsman, and at 

 many of our leading poultry shops will testify, and thus the good 

 intentions of those by whom the laws were introduced and framed 

 have been frustrated. To secure active co-operation in the 

 direction of the preservation of insectivorous birds, we must be 

 able, by the aid of stufifed specimens themselves, to show those 

 interested the difference between the noxious and the beneficial 

 kinds, and to point out to those persons who are engaged in our 

 great rural industries that their interest lies in uniting, as in the 

 case of the insect pests, to maintain the balance which nature has 

 given us, and more especially to endeavour to impress upon 

 young people the necessity for preserving certain birds from 

 destruction. Those unaccustomed to dissecting birds can have 

 but a faint idea of the enormous quantity of insects many even 

 of the smaller birds devour, and a better acquaintance with both 

 birds and insects would, I am sure, tend to prevent such whole- 

 sale slaughter. The chief enemies of birds are the itinerant 

 sportsmen, who on holidays scour the country in all directions, 



