68 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX. 



• 



In the Civil and Military Gazette of 24th July, 1891, it is reported that a bird known by the 

 Afghans as Sanch has appeared in vast numbers in the.provinces of Jellalabad and Latabandj 

 and done much good in destroying locusts. 



Major H. P. Leigh, Deputy Commissioner, Kohat, writes (27th August, 1891), that all the 

 natives he has questioned agree in describing the Sanch bird, said to have appeared in such 

 large numbers in Afghanistan, as a Tilliar (starling or rosy pastor). This bird appears in 

 Kohat in large numbers, mixed up with large flocks of Kabul sparrows, when the mulberries 

 are ripe, and migrates down country, re-appearing in the autumn on its way north. The 

 flocks chatter tremendously and dash from tree to tree, but have not been noticed on the 

 ground. The bird is known in Kohat as Kangira, and it preys on the locusts, though curi- 

 ously enough it has been almost a stranger in Kohat during the past year, perhaps because it 

 found such abundant food among the locust swarms in Afghanistan and adjacent countries. 

 It is said that the Kangira, if in small numbers, will not face a dense flight of locusts. 



In a letter, dated 29th August, 1891, Major H. P. Leigh, Deputy Commissioner, Kohat, 

 recorded the alleged destruction of a flight of locusts by the rosy pastor. Specimens of the 

 bird were at the same time forwarded to the Indian Museum and identified by Mr, W. L. 

 Sclater. The Tehsildar, who was sent from Kohat to afrange for the destruction of some 

 locusts which has appeared in the neighbourhood, reported that the swarm had been destroy- 

 ed by the starling. He watched them for some time, and noticed that, after killing a dozen 

 or so of insects, the bird would fly off to water, cleanse its bill, and begin again, appearing 

 rather to kill the locusts for amusement than for food, as it left them in the most mutilated 

 condition. 



The Deputy Commissioner, Dera Ghazi Khan, wrote (26th August, 1891) that the common 

 Tilliar or starling (rosy pastor) eats locusts greedily. On one occasion in July, when flights 

 of locusts invaded the station of Dera Ghazi Khan, the Tilliars were said to have flown out 

 in a swarm to meet them and attacked them fiercely. The locusts tried to avoid them, but 

 did not succeed in doing so, and were beaten off. The damage done in the station was con- 

 sequently very slight. The Tilliars are most numerous in Dera Ghazi Khan, from about 

 the middle of July to the end of August. 



THE CHEROOT BORER. 



By E. 0. Cotes, 



Offg. Deputy Supt., Indian Museum, Calcutta. 



[Reprinted from Museum Notes, Vol. Ill, No. i.] 



In the rainy season of 1891 attention was again called to the " cheroot 

 weevil," Lasioderma testaceum, Redtenb (Dermestidce). This insect drills the 

 small round holes which are so often met with in Indian cheroots, and is said 

 to interfere very seriously with the exportation of Indian cheroots. So far as 

 is known, the beetle lays its eggs on the leaf, and the little curved white hairy 

 grubs, which emerge from these eggs, tunnel their way through the tobacco, 

 and finally transform into white motionless pupae from which the beetles 

 emerge ready to cut their way out of the cheroot, and thus form the round 

 holes which are so characteristic a sign of the presence of the insect. The 

 length of time spent by the insect in the various stages has not yet been traced, 

 and there is still a good deal of doubt as to the stage in the manufacture at 



