3i6 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



points wholly on account of the grass-tick. Even 

 during the several months we spent on an estate, 

 there were large grass fields, as attractive to the 

 eye and with as luxuriant a growth as one could 

 hope to see, which were not only shunned by the 

 cattle, but into which they refused to be driven. 

 Horses, as well as cattle and sheep, were the 

 sufferers; so that it needs no little imagination 

 on the part of the reader to conceive the endless 

 consequences ensuing on the introduction of the 

 mongoose. 



It is only necessary to look at similar experi- 

 ments made in various parts of the world to be 

 aware of the inevitable evil results that follow. 

 The naturalization of the rabbit in Australia and 

 of the English sparrow in America are well 

 known ; and what they have accomplished in 

 both regions has been summarized and set forth 

 in detail by many writers. But even at their 

 worst, no comparison can be made between them 

 and the mongoose. It is probable that because 

 this animal was brought into a small insular area 

 that it achieved necessarily more deep-reaching 

 effects than if it had been taken into the larger 

 area of the mainland ; for it is accepted that 

 islands furnish protection to certain forms of life 

 which have ceased to exist on the adjacent main- 

 land, and conversely the opposite is true. 



At the Spanish River our carriage was taken 



