which are so numerous that numbers of fine cattle succumb to

their exhausting attacks, while even horses are covered with

them—a rare occurrence. Would not a Starling be of some

use here also ?


It seems strange that there should be no native bird which

is an efficient natural enemy of the above two terrible inserts.


For the locusts I suggested trying the common Starling,

but he was considered too small to tackle them, though, in my

own opinion, the chief good would be done by the destruction of

the ova while in the soil, and of the non-flying larval locusts or

“ saltonas,” which, by the way, are the most dreaded for their

destructive powers, and a Starling of some sort is certainly the

bird needed for this. But perhaps it is as well that our speckled

friend has not found his way out there, for he should make a

sturdy colonist and would very likely oust a good many native

species.


In conclusion, I would remark that I was struck to

find what a curious likeness there is between the various kinds

of Indian Starlings. In the course of my search for “ tristis ,”

I came across four distiuCt species which, to a casual observer,

seemed almost identical, and no doubt all would have been more

or less stiitable for the purpose. One, I think, was the Crested

Mynah ; another, the small Hill Mynah, and a third was precisely

like “ tristis,''' but entirely dull black and lacking the bare skin

behind the eye ; the most noticeable point was that all had the

white patch on the wing and the white bar across the end of the

tail.



A FEW NOTES ON SOME NATURAL FOODS.


By C. S. Simpson.


The various dried seeds, prepared foods, and other things

which are sold for the feeding of our tame birds, are so cheap

and, in some respects, so good that we are in some danger of

losing sight of the fact that many foods which are to be had for

the mere trouble of collecting, are more nearly like the natural

foods which birds obtain in their wild state, and are, in that

respect, better than any artificial food can possibly be. There

are not very many of us who are altogether beyond the reach of

fields, or at any rate of a garden, and I am convinced that

almost everyone of us might with benefit make more use of

these natural foods than we do. I have not anything very novel



