one of those that had secured its liberty, calling regularly to the 
outside crow which always kept in the vicinity of the cage. 
4. It may be of interest to record that upon the arrival of the 
Ceylon crows, some dozen or more of the ordinary carrion crow 
of this country appeared on the scenes, and seemed to regard the ' 
new comers with considerable interest, but never made any at- 
tempt to molest them in any way. Indeed as far as I can see the 
Ceylon crows have nothing to fear from any natural enemies in 
this country. I have seen kites and eagles flying round since they 
have been here, but on no occasion have they attacked the crows. 
1 have a large number of young ducks and chickens where the 
crows have been let loose, but they have not been disturbed by 
their new neighbours at all, and I do not think that the crows will 
do any mischief of this sort, as some people anticipate. I may 
mention however, that the young ducks proved too much of a 
temptation to the big carrion crows, which killed and carried on 
several every day, until I was obliged at last to shoot two of thenv 
They were only wounded, and I was able to keep them in one of 
the empty cages for some days, when one of them, having e\i- 
dently sustained internal injuries, died. The other, however, is 
still alive and it has been very interesting having the two species 
side by side for comparison. The carrion crow readily eats the 
largest coconut beetles and their larvae, his powerful bill enabling 
him to split up and devour the former with the greatest ease. The 
Ceylon crows will also eat the larvae greedily, but cannot manage 
the beetle unless it is killed and broken up for them first. 
General . — I venture to think that the experiment as far as it has 
gone has been an unqualified success. It has been demonstrated 
that the crows will thrive in captivity, that they can stand without 
any serious ill effects the long journey over to this country, that 
when released they do not at once fly away, but show every sign 
of an intention to adapt themselves to their altered circumstances, 
and that, when given to them, they readily eat the caterpillars, the 
destruction of which was the reason for their importation. It now 
remains to be seen if they will breed, and should they do so, l do 
not see what more can be expected from them, for, as I have said, 
it is scarcely likely, while so few in numbers, that they will hunt 
the coffee for caterpillars, when there is so much food of other sorts 
available. The remedy for this is to import several thousands of 
the birds, and 1 shall sincerely hope to see this done. 
I have, &c., 
E. V. CAREY, 
Chairman, U. P. A., f . Af. 8. 
COAGULATION OF RUBBER. 
Singapore, 28th January, 1903. 
The Editor, 
The Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits 
and Federated Malay States. 
Dear Sir, — You are aware that I have filed the specification of 
