290 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 







Tunicata 900 



Mollusca 



. 





50,000 



Brachiopoda . 







150 



Bryozoa 







1800 



Crustacea 







20,000 



Arachnida 







10,000 



Myriopoda and Protracheata 







3,000 



Insecta 



. 





230,000 



Echinodermata 



. 





3,000 



Vermes .... 







0,150 



Coelenterata .... 







2,000 



Spongire 







1,500 



Protozoa .... 



• 





6,100 



Total 



366,000 



MAMMALIA. 



The Rabbit Plague in Australia.— An American writer, Mr. Bosse, of 

 New Orleans, has addressed a letter to the United States Minister of Mines 

 and Agriculture, suggesting the advisability of introducing into Australia 

 the American Eagle Owl (Bubo virginianus), in order to keep down the 

 Rabbits. Australia already possesses several diurnal birds of prey which 

 habitually kill and feed on Rabbits, as, for instance, the Wedge-tailed Eagle 

 (Aquila audax), the Australian Goshawks (Astur approximans and A. cru- 

 entus), the Black-breasted Buzzard (Buteo melanosternum), and the Australian 

 Kite (Milvus affinis); and if these birds were only left unmolested they would 

 do good work in the direction desired. The proposed introduction of another 

 bird of prey is not only unnecessary, but also highly undesirable for other 

 reasons. The American Eagle Owl would, no doubt, kill Rabbits, but it 

 would certainly not confine its attention to these animals, and the account 

 given of it by American naturalists shows it to be a very unwelcome 

 neighbour to farmers and poultry keepers. Dr. A. K. Fisher, at page 175 

 of his useful work, 'The Hawks and Owls of the United States in their 

 relation to Agriculture ' (Bull. U.S. Department of Agriculture, No. 3, 1893), 

 thus describes its habits: — "Of all the birds of prey, with the exception 

 possibly of the Goshawk and Cooper's Hawk, the Great Horned Owl is the 

 most destructive to poultry. All kinds of poultry seem to be taken, though 

 when Guinea Fowls and Turkeys are obtainable, it shows a preference for 

 these. In sections of the country where it is common, the inhabitants often 

 complain bitterly of its ravages. An examination of the table at the end of 

 this article will show that a large proportion of the specimens contained the 

 remains of poultry." The following, from the pen of Dr. P. R. Hoy, shows 

 how destructive a single Owl may be: — " The specimen in the Museum of 

 the Philadelphia Academy was known to carry off from one farm in the 



