128 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



The Rosella Parrot. — " A Native," writing from Skipton, 

 says : — " I found yesterday in the Western District of Victoria 

 what I consider a remarkable nesting-place for a Rosella Parrot. 

 While riding through thickly-timbered country I was surprised to 

 see a Rosella fly out of a rabbit's burrow, and on digging it out I 

 was still more surprised to find five eggs at the end, two feet from 

 the month. I will be glad if you will insert this, as it may be of 

 interest to some of your naturalist readers." — Australasian. 



The Trade in Kangaroo Skins. — Representations have been 

 addressed to the Premier regarding the wholesale destruction of 

 wild animals and birds. Kangaroos and Lyre Birds are so much 

 sought after that at the present rate of destruction their extinction 

 is only a question of time. For the last three years the value of 

 the Kangaroo skins exported to the United States totalled 

 ^^300,000, or ;^ioo,ooo per year. One agent alone in a single 

 fortnight recently exported 1,600 Lyre Birds' tails to the 

 United States. The Premier is considering the question with 

 a view to prevent wanton destruction, — Age, 15 th October, 1891. 



The Work of Earthworms. — Mr. G. Renner calls attention 

 to some experiments recently made by Dr. Wollny, of Munich. 

 A number of pots were placed in such a manner as to allow 

 all plants grown in them to vegetate under similar conditions. 

 Half of the pots received soil inhabited by earthworms ; the soil 

 of the other half was kept free from worms. Beans, peas, oats, 

 rye, and other economic plants were sown in the pots, and their 

 development carefully watched. Already, when germinating, the 

 plants in the soil containing worms proved, by their vigorous 

 growth, that they " had the best of it," and the results may be 

 stated thus : — They produced more than the plants in soil not 

 containing worms — in the case of peas, 24'i per cent.; rye, 

 59*9 per cent. ; beans, 817 per cent. ; rape, 2317 per cent. If 

 we look for the reasons for the better development of the plants 

 in the "infested" soil, we find that the worms dig and loosen 

 the soil in such a manner as to make it more porous, hence the 

 quantity of water which the soil can bind must decrease, the 

 quantity of air must increase — to use a technical term, the soil 

 becomes specifically " warmer." This favours a ready decompo- 

 sition of the nutritive substances, and the plants are benefited ; 

 whereas moist soil becomes sour. In the soil where decompo- 

 sition takes place unimpeded, carbonic acid is developed in large 

 quantities, which in its turn readily dissolves the mineral sub- 

 stances or nutritive salts contained in the soil. May we not 

 therefore conclude that, in order to improve the permanently 

 moist soil where nothing but reeds, rushes, and cyperaceous 

 plants will grow, earthworms should be settled, which will, it 

 cannot be doubted, soon drain the land and thereby prepare it 

 for the reception of more useful plants ? 



