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Most of the foresters who refer to the opossum speak of him as a grass-eater 
and not an important eater of Eucalyptus leaves. 
Two papers bearing more or less on the subject may be referred to 
1. Rev. Dr. Woolls, Viet. Nat., viii, 78, 1891. 
2. Rev. Peter MacPherson, Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W., xix, 83, 1885. 
A very reliable observer in the Hay, New South Wales, district, the late K. H. 
Bennett, has a paper " Remarks on the decay of certain species of Eucalypti " (Proc. 
Linn. Soc. N.S.W., x, 453, 1885). He agrees with Rev. Peter MacPherson as to the 
very destructive effects of opossums, and quotes his experience in Gippsland when, 
almost without exception, these animals destroyed large numbers of E. rostrata and 
E. melliodora. 
Mr. W. F. Blakely informs me that in the Hornsby, Sydney, district, he has 
observed that the trunks of the Grey Gum (E. punctata DC.), are largely marked by 
the claws of the opossums which frequent this tree for the leaves. The surrounding 
trees, consisting chiefly of Angophora lanceolate/,, E. hcemastoma Sm. and its var. 
micrantha Benth., E. pilularis Sm. (the Blackbutt), and E. piperita Sm. (the Peppermint), 
either do not appear to be touched bythese animals, or very slightly so. 
Confirmation of Mr. Blakely 's observations is given by the fact that Mr. A. S. 
Le Souef, Director of the Sydney Zoo, applied to me in June, 1918, for young trees 
of the Grey Gum to grow food for the opossums. 
So abundant is the native bear (sometimes locally called monkey), in some 
trees, e.g., Eucalyptus numerosa, on the South Coast of New South Wales, that I have 
known them to be called " Monkey Gum " on that account. 
Insects and Birds. 
" Bird-helpers in Forests " forms the subject of a short article by Ralph C. 
Blacket, Forest Guard, Aust. Forestry Journal, October, 1918, p. 35. He makes a 
plea for the protection of the birds because of the work they dp in ridding the forests 
of " thousands of insect pests, ranging from big wood-boring beetles down to 
microscopic individuals under the cuticle of leaves. . . ." 
The Black Cockatoo tears open the hard fruit of various species of Eucalyptus, 
e.g., E. pilularis, the Blackbutt, to obtain the seeds for food. The bird may do good 
in disseminating the species by this operation. At the same time, black cockatoos 
tear open saplings to get at grubs. They have surprisingly powerful beaks and tear off 
large chips. But the most remarkable instance of the kind brought under my notice 
is the following : 
A small forest of Stringybark (E. obliqua L'Herit.) ringbarked near Interlaken, Tasmania, is now 
a feeding ground for flocks of black cockatoos, which tear off the bark in shreds in search of grubs. The 
trees having been killed, became a prey to these grubs, and the shredded bark lies at the foot of the trees 
in great heaps. Photo, reproduced in Aust. For. Journ., August, 1919, p. 241, from "The Gum Tree'' 
herewith. 
E 
