i8 
The Emu 
are always in flocks, but while the main body is feeding several 
remain on a neighbouring tree as sentinels, and on the approach 
of danger give the alarm. The White Cockatoos are frightened 
away for a time by shooting, but the Rose-breasted will not 
leave — they simply go to another part of the crop. But the 
Cockatoos, of course, are only troublesome for a few weeks in 
the year, and after the crops are well above the ground their 
visits cease. Even the harm they do is infinitesimal in com- 
parison with their good offices in keeping down locusts, &c. 
Then there are several smaller members of the Cockatoo and 
Parrot family — the Rosella, the Blue-bellied or Blue Mountain 
and the IMusky Lorikeets — which prove very troublesome at cer- 
tain seasons. 
The natural food of the first-mentioned consists of grass 
seed and native fruits, but all of them are very partial to the 
cultivated fruits also. It is not to be wondered at ; they find 
the fruits grown in our orchards much more luscious than 
their native food, and consequently are tempted to try them — 
much to the owner's discomfort. The Blue^bellied Lorikeet 
also visits maize-fields and strips the cobs just as they ripen, 
but the Rosella has not shown a taste for this mischief yet. 
There is much speculation concerning the reason why the 
iBlue-bellied and the Musky Lorikeets have become depredators 
in the orchards, considering that they are brush-tongued species 
and their natural diet is the honey of the eucalyptus flowers ; 
but the fact remains that they have taken a liking to cultivated 
fruits, and no amount of rough treatment will drive them away. 
It seems a useless thing to attempt to kill them by poisoned 
bait and shooting, for their numbers are immediately replaced 
by others from outside But here is a suggestion by which their 
ravages can be lessened — remove temptation, in the form of the 
fruit, from their way. The 'keets do not come to the orchard 
until the fruit is ripening. Early fruits, such as cherries, they 
do not touch, for they are busy at that time with their parental 
cares. About Christmas the nesting and rearing of young are 
over; then the families unite and visit the orchards .in large 
flocks. Finding fruit in a suitable condition, they remain as 
long as the supply holds out. But then there is no need to 
leave the fruit on the trees until ripe. Apples, pears, peaches, 
and apricots can all be picked when changing colour, and, in 
fact, ripen better off the tree. If this is done then there is no 
fruit to attract the 'keets, and they are cheated of the spoil. 
The large Honey-eaters, the Wattle Bird and the Friar Bird, 
prove exceedingly troublesome by devouring soft fruits when 
ripening, and in certain districts the Bower Birds, the Orioles, 
and the Koel can also be included in the same category. All 
these birds, together with the 'keets, have no redeeming feature 
whatever. They take all they can get and give nothing in 
exchange. Their natural food consists of native fruits, grass 
