NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 37 
The Useful Birds of Southern Australia, with Notes on other Birds. 
By Rosert Hatz, F.L.S., C.M.Z.8., &e. TT. C. Lothian, 
Melbourne & Sydney. 
Tuts book is for the horticulturist a vindication of a number 
of common Australian birds. Their depredations are shown to 
be in the main useful, their food that of the gardener’s enemies, 
their habits innocuous. Of the Yellow-rumped Tit (Acanthiza 
chrysorrhoa) we read :—‘‘ Kach Tit that owns a house in an 
orchard is worth more than its weight in gold, so valuable are 
the services of this insectivorous genus. On no account what- 
ever, except for strictly scientific purposes, should this bird be 
killed or driven from a garden.” On the other hand, introduced 
species may become noxious. ‘‘ Australia has no bird that 
proves so disastrous to rural industries as the introduced Spar- 
row. A lawfor its stringent suppression should be a satisfactory 
one.” The Huropean Starling is recognized as ‘‘ come to stay. 
Being gregarious, its every action for good or for ill is one of 
whole measure. . . . Up to the present time the bird as a help- 
mate to the grazier and farmer is a valuable one. To the 
orchardist the menace is a serious one.” In the introduction we 
are told:—‘‘It is a problem for the future to decide whether a 
war of suppression shall be waged against the Starling, and it 
behoves all who have the farming interests at heart to closely 
watch its ways. Remember the Rabbit and the Sparrow!” 
Apart from the avine economical standpoint, this small and 
fully illustrated volume tells us much of the life-histories of the 
species which are included in its category, the details given being 
not those of a compiler but the observations of a well-recognized 
Australian ornithologist. Our space will not allow a long quota- 
tion, otherwise we should like to print the summary given of a 
paper by Mr. M’Alpine on the relations between the Lory and 
the fungus of: the citrus tree. Mr. Hall has written a useful 
book on an important subject. 
