106 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



I have seen more parti-coloured Rabbits in Australia than 

 I have ever seen in Europe. Near Queenscliffe numerous 

 instances occur, not merely of white and black Rabbits, which 

 are common, but of Rabbits with beautifully striped skins. 

 I should think that rugs made out of such skins ought to fetch a 

 good price. 



It seems natural to suppose that as civilization and settle- 

 ment progress, the Rabbits will gradually disappear, just as 

 they have done in other countries. It is not until the tide of 

 emigration turns towards Australasia that we can expect to find 

 a steady diminution of these pests. It is much to be hoped that 

 the working-men of all the Australian Colonies may one day show 

 enough unselfishness and Imperial patriotism to wish to encourage 

 the immigration of their poorer cousins of the Old Country 

 into their Eldorado. The picture which M. O'Rell has lately 

 seen fit to give of the Australian working-man is indeed calculated 

 to give an extremely unfavourable impression of him to the 

 Parisian badauds, and the charge which he brings against him 

 of habitual drunkenness is quite untrue. But it is unfortunately 

 true that there is a large party in Australia to whom the cry of 

 "Australia for the Australians" means "We do not care to 

 develop our resources if such development implies the importation 

 of labour from over the seas." The Australian working-man is 

 sober, and moderate in his diet, but it cannot truthfully be said 

 that he takes much interest in what goes on outside his own 

 colony. The best way to solve the Rabbit question, which is a 

 vital one for the Australian working-man, would be to encourage 

 the immigration of his British cousins to take the place of the 

 rodents. 



BIRDS OBSERVED IN MID- WALES. 

 By Harold Raeburn. 



During a few days spent in Wales in May last the birds 

 given below were noted. The absence from the list of many 

 common species of course does not imply that they do not occur 

 in the district. The list is made up solely of species seen or 

 identified by note in a rather hurried walk through parts of 

 Montgomery, Radnor, and Cardigan. It is probably shorter, on 



