122 
The Emu. 
insects noxious to gardens. I was under the impression that 
no district was free from the Sparrow pest, but a most trust- 
worthy correspondent informs me that they have not yet reached 
Tyenna, on Russell Falls River, a locality some miles to the 
west of Hobart. 
The next best known bird is the English Goldfinch {Carduelis 
elegans), which has been here for close on twenty years. It 
is numerous in Hobart and the surrounding country. Flocks 
of 4p and 50 have been seen at a time. Round Launceston and 
the north it is not so numerous as in the south, but extends 
over a larger area of country. Taking the southern portion of 
the island first : numerous in Hobart and suburbs, fairly so in 
the Derwent Valley as far beyond the River Ouse as has been 
settled, exceedingly numerous round New Norfolk, Glenora, 
and Macquarie Plains. Sorell and the surrounding district have 
a fairly large quota. It is now increasing rapidly round Laun- 
ceston and the suburbs, breeding freely in suitable trees in 
gardens where it is not molested. At Underwood, in the Upper 
River Piper district, it has comparatively recently become very 
numerous. It is reported as doing much good by feeding on 
the scale and other insect pests with which the trees are infested. 
Round Hadspen it is spreading somewhat. On the north- 
west coast, notably at Latrobe and Devonport, the Goldfinch 
is gradually becoming a familiar object. Sometimes young 
birds are obtained by fixing a cage over the nest when it is 
found in a garden ; then the old birds will continue to feed 
their young through the bars of the cage. 
We will now pass on to the common Starling {Sturnus 
vulgaris). About the year 1800 Dr. E. L. Crowther, of Hobart, 
purchased a number of Starlings in New Zealand and brought 
them to Hobart, where he liberated seventy-five. These birds 
are the common English Starling, imported into New Zealand 
and from there into Tasmania. They were promptly protected 
by law, and multiplied rapidly. Starlings are now extremely 
plentiful in Hobart and the surrounding districts, but south- 
ward have not spread much beyond Lower Sandy Bay, some 
four miles from Hobart. To the north of Hobart they are 
found above Bridgewater, and inland about twenty miles, ex- 
tending their range beyond Brighton, but have not yet reached 
Campania, a distance of twenty-seven miles. They are also 
very numerous far beyond the River Ouse, Native Tier, Mac- 
quarie Plains, and all intervening parts between the places 
mentioned. 
On the east bank of the Derwent they have spread to 
Bellerive and surrounding district. In 1899 they had not 
reached Sorell, but are now numerous there. They may be 
seen in flocks of a hundred or more on grass paddocks, hunting 
for grubs. These birds do much good by destroying countless 
numbers of these pernicious larvae. During the fruit season. 
