3 



one can conceal oneself sufficiently close to a nest for the 

 identification of the food brought in to the young to be rendered 

 possible. Much can be done by the aid of good binoculars, 

 but no very exact particulars can be obtained in this way. 

 However, the enthusiast may, with a little ingenuity and plenty 

 of patience, be able to add much to our knowledge of the food 

 of the nestling young without taking the life of the birds. 



The insect food found in the stomachs and " pellets " is 

 classified under the following heads : — 



(1) Insects belonging to the injurious group. 



(2) Insects belonging to the beneficial group. 



(3) Insects belonging to the indifferent group. 



In group 1 are included the caterpillars or larvae of all 

 kinds of moths, weevils (Rhyncophora), bark and wood-boring 

 beetles, ants and gall-making insects, wasps, sawfly larvae, 

 plant lice, scale insects, &c. 



In group 2 are included the ground beetles (Geodephaga), 

 ichneumon flies, predaceous larvae, some aquatic insects (Noto- 

 necta, &c), lady-bird beetles (Coccinellidae), &c. 



In group 3, all the dung-feeding beetles (Scarabaeidae) and 

 a miscellaneous selection of other innoxious insects which do 

 not fall within the pale of the other groups. 



Representatives of all these groups occurred sometimes in the 

 same bird. It is quite obvious, however, that many of the 

 insects included under the first two headings may be referable to 

 group 3, as the difficulty of determining the specific characters 

 from small fragments of insects is so great that it was often 

 impossible to do more than refer such material to the families 

 or sub-families to which it belonged. However this may be, 

 we find on tabulating the insects included in the injurious group 

 that out of an approximate total of 525* records the number of 

 instances in which the insects were identified as being injurious 

 to various crops was 203. The remaining records' are 

 doubtful, but as they are referable to families or genera 

 which include many well-known insect pests, it has been thought 

 desirable that they should be retained in this division. 



One has also experienced the same difficulty in classifying 

 the insects which are placed in group 2. In this division there 



(412;) 



* Field-reccrds not included. 



B 2 



