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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Aug. 1, 1903. 
BIRD LIFE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED. 
Sir, —Mr. Sholto Skrine has remarked that an 
eastern climate is conducive to nervous irritation. 
This may be so ; but there are real worries all the 
same. Poochies, birds, and little Tamil children 
must be attended to ! Mr. Anderson's remark as 
quoted in the "Ceylon Times" with regard to 
the laws of nature relating to birds and poochies 
is naive : — " It all has to be carefully worked out, 
and requires a good deal of study and observation" 
seems quite like patting the Diety on the back ! 
Science and observation can, of course, accomplish 
much, but the presence of these poochies, and the 
absence of these birds will, I expect, be a real 
worry for some considerable time. It the younger 
Tamils were sent to school it might prevent them 
from interfering with the younger birds. We are 
told to introduce bramble.^, fruits, and grain as 
bird appetizers, and it is to be hoped, with such 
attractions they will not neglect a poochie dessert. 
Lizards are a good suggestion. They are well 
organised creatures, and certainly found of poo- 
chies. So are frogs — very fond — and hold more, 
but they won't climb tea bushes. Perhaps the 
P.A. might suggest some way by which they 
could be made to climb. 
H. MILLER MACKAY. 
A QUESTION ON DISEASE OF FOWLS, 
Upcountry, July IG. 
Deab Sir,— Could any of your readers 
kindly advise me about the following : 
disease set in amongst my fowls and turkeys ; 
out of quite seventy fiead I have only 
about half-a-dozen left. The fowls would 
be ill about three days, and sometimes less, 
purging the while ; and on opening them after 
death I would find their livers enormously 
enlarged. Though the fowls and turkeys 
have practically been wiped out, none of 
my ducks have been attacked. The fowl- 
house is a large one, and kept scrupulously 
clean with Jeye's fluid ; so over-crowding 
and dirt can't be the cause of the sickness. 
They are free to roam about and are not 
fenced in. Any information as to what the 
disease is and how it ought to be combated 
will be thankfully received. 
HEN PECK. 
Colombo, July 18. 
Deau Sib,— In regard to "Hen Peck "'s en- 
quiry, with the exception of the purging referred 
to death is from just the same cause as so many 
birds have died of in Colombo lately. About 
three weeks ago some of my best birds suddenly 
died from no apparent cause. I got Mr. S — '- 
to open a few and the cause of death was diseased 
liver. Others I have opened myself and death 
has no doubt been from the same cause. I be- 
lieve the domestic fowl in tliis country (parti- 
cularly in the lowcountry) is too liable to stand 
about too much and, consequently suffers from liver 
through want of exercise. Changeable weather 
and cold rain and winds then give such birds 
a sudden chill causing death. I think it is wise 
to give food sparingly to encourage birds to roam 
about more and a few doses of Epsom Salts might 
do good.— Yours, S. 
[Our correspondent " Hen Peck " and other 
poultry farmers should subscribe to the local 
monthly "Poultry Club Magazine" only K16 a 
year.-— Ed, 
THE PROTECTION OF INSECTIVOROUS 
BIRDS. 
July 17. 
Dear Sir,— I have only now seen the 
article on this subject in the " Tunes of 
Ceylon," and, as I should like to s iy a few 
words thereon, I hope you and your readers 
will excuse another yarn. 
It is a good many months ago now since 
I first pleaded for the protection of our little 
insectivorous birds and my reason for doing 
so was an article in the "Indian Field" which 
proved conclusively that the Jungle Crow in 
Northern India, not only stole eggs but killed 
young bh^ds, and, as it has become a bit of a 
nuisance upcountry, I called for it.s extermi- 
nation as I felt sure our smaller birds were 
getting less plentiful and that the cause of 
this was the increased number of Jungle 
Crows. The Observer and the -"Times" 
printed my letter, but the latter, probably 
through an oversight, did not attach the 
article from the Indian paper which was, 
I thought, a pity as it left my letter without 
the support it needed. 
Now for the criticism of the article referred 
to. The scarcity of bird-life in our higher 
districts has been a matter of surprise and 
regret to all in Ceylon for generations 
past. The felling of immense tracts of 
forest land recently for tea growing is 
an awful mistake of somebody's as 99 per 
cent of our tea was formerly in coffee ; but 
the felling of the forests had really 
nothing whatever to do with the scarcity 
of birds. Quite the reverse, in fact, for the 
birds have followed civilisation all along. 
Was there ever a sparrow in Nawalapitiya, 
Hatton or Nanuoya till the railway reached 
those villages ? 1 trow not. What do you 
find today on Pedrotalagalla., the Horton 
Plains, the Elk Plains or even the 
Rajah Patanas which are only a couple 
of miles from here ? Nothing, bar a few 
hawks of sorts, a lark or two, and 
some snipe and jungle fowl. A change 
has, indeed, taken place in the ornitho- 
logical features of the hill country of 
Ceylon, but it is a change for the better, 
so let us do our best to make it better still. 
It is all very well to talk of the balance 
of nature, but what was man made for if 
it wasn't to help to regulate that balance? 
We played the fool in Ceylon in the olden 
days by having coffee, coffee everywhere 
(and not a drop to drink for we all drank 
tea and brandy then) and the result was a 
most lovely life-history of Herailia Vastatrix 
and death to coffee and the coffee planter. 
What we want now is common sense, com- 
bined with science of course, if such matters 
can combine— so away with all sentiment 
about the beautiful carnivovous birds. Plant 
those rogue birds as thickly as you please in 
the Colombo Museum ; but keep them under 
in the open. 
