188 THE YOUNG 



was directed to the fact that the fish was 

 well cooked — boiled or otherwise. Now it 

 is quite certain that no animal can bear the 

 heat of 212° Farenheit and retain life; yet 

 we are gravely assured that this is not the 

 case, that some unknown parasitical "white 

 worm" will survive the process, and the 

 most appalling results are anticipated in 

 case these " white worms " should accident- 

 ally find their way to the stomachs of any 

 unfortunate being of the genus Homo. The 

 trichinae in pork will be nothing to these. 



Mr, Mundella takes a great amount of 

 credit for the progress in education made 

 by the children of this country during the 

 past year, and talks about percentages of 

 attendance, about standards, and other 

 matters pertaining thereto, till one would 

 almost believe a flood of intelligence was 

 spreading over the land like the waters of 

 an inundation. It is tolerably clear that 

 there is great room for improvement, even 

 among those who take their place among 

 the teachers of the people, so far, at all 

 events, as Natural History is concerned. 



BIRD PROTECTION, AND 

 ITS RELATION TO 

 INSECT LIFE. 



By S. L. Mosley. 



Bead at the Lancashire and Cheshire En- 

 tomological Society, May 26th, 1884. 



For the past two years we have heard a 

 voice crying "Where are the insects?" 

 This cry has come from all parts of England, 

 and many other parts of Britain ; every- 

 where there has been a scarcity of all insect 

 life. Those who are acquainted with ento- 

 mological literature, know that various 

 reasons have been put forth to account for 

 such a scarcity. One writer attributes it to 

 ihe cold wet spring, another to the open 



NATURALIST. 



winter, and a third to the prevailing high 

 winds during the time when the larvae were 

 feeding. All these conditions may have had 

 their own effects, in their own way, upon 

 insect life. But I think the main cause of 

 the scarcity of insects is that which I first 

 set forth in a paper published in the 

 "Naturalist," for February, 1884, in which 

 I sought to prove that the protection, and 

 consequent increase, of small birds is the 

 main cause of the scarcity of insects, of 

 which entomologists have had just reason 

 to complain. I need not recapitulate the 

 paper here; but I may state one or two 

 points of the argument. It is well known 

 that many of the small birds of this country 

 — all those known as summer migrants, and 

 many of the resident species — are either 

 wholly or partially insectivorous. Many of 

 those also which are granivorous at other 

 times, such as the hard-billed finches, 

 become insectivorous during the breeding 

 season. Watch a tom-tit, and see the dex- 

 terity with which it creeps round the 

 branches, observe the number of insects it 

 picks from the bark, and an hours watching 

 such a bird will give some idea of the quan- 

 tity of insects required for its support ; but 

 you will require a fresh observation before 

 you can form any idea of the enormous 

 quantity consumed by a family during the 

 breeding season. These observations have 

 already been made by trustyworthy ob- 

 servers, and there is no reason why their 

 statements should be disbelieved. But it is 

 not the small birds only, but many of the 

 larger ones at times are insectivorous. Dur- 

 the summer of 1880, I had several opportu- 

 nities of watching the destruction of crane- 

 flies by rooks, and my observations go to 

 prove that the birds must have destroyed 

 enormous quantities of that destructive 

 insect, which, during that year was excess- 

 ively abundant. Now what takes place 

 with regard to crane-flies, takes place with 

 regard to every other edible insect, and the 



