The Emu. 
19 
seeds, &c., and they do not assist in any way to keep down 
noxious insects. They give no compensation for their villainy. 
In this short article it will be noticed that three classes 
of birds have been dealt with — -firsts the birds which are antago- 
nistic to man's interests at particular seasons of the year, be they 
long or short periods ; but these birds, it must be admitted, 
more than compensate for their bad behaviour by keeping in 
check insects which would otherwise certainly be the greater 
evil ; secondly, birds which are content to serve the public good 
without taking or requiring any compensation ; and, tJiirdly, 
those with no good intentions, giving no obvious compensation. 
Of course, these divisions could be still further enlarged. In 
the first, for instance, we have those birds which trouble the 
agriculturist, the grazier, and the orchardist ; then there are 
species — namely, the Bee-eater and the Wood Swallows — which 
the apiarist views with much concern, seeing that the poor little 
birds, merely chasing their natural food, sometimes demolish the. 
honey bee, from which he is endeavouring to earn a livelihood. 
But the birds must not be destroyed wholesale on that account. 
Untold evils might arise if the factors now keeping them in 
abeyance were done away with. There are extreme cases, of 
course. A pair of Wood Swallows may take up their quarters 
in a garden with the express purpose of feasting on the luxury 
furnished by a hive in some secluded spot ; then it would be 
expedient to do away with them ; but that is no signal for the 
extinction of the whole race. On the other hand, it should be 
an incentive for a closer observation, in the course of which 
bird-life will not be unnecessarily wasted, but rather conserved, 
and thereby the inherent powers of nature fostered. 
Enough has been written to point out the necessity for closer 
observation, for the birds must not be judged harshly. It would 
be an everlasting disgrace for a country, a nation, to destroy its 
avi-fauna; and neglect or imperfect protection practically equal the 
same thing. Surely we must admit that the destructiveness of 
some of the birds is, indeed, a small matter in comparison with 
the general good resulting from their presence, and if we do 
not take a broad view and still allow them their liberty then it 
will lead to our ultimate sorrow and loss. 
Amongst Returning Birds* 
By H. Kendall. 
If in September's early days one spends a few quiet hours in 
such a place as the fast-vanishing remnant of the bush between 
Ringwood and the Dandenong Creek he soon discovers that 
*' the time of the singing of birds is come," and that some 
wanderers have returned. Not with the voice of the turtle " in 
this locality as yet ; though Ground Doves may possibly appear 
