Insect 
Eating Birds. 
(189) THE BIRD WORLD. 
to breaking point, under their weight. I 
recall some short remarks I had just 
heard from a farmer, one of the old 
school, who had benevolently criticised 
Partridges and Wood Pigeons, but Spar¬ 
rows, said he, with a strong adjective to 
emphasise his dislike, ‘ I nivver could 
mak’ out what they be sent for, ’cept to 
be a nuisance,’ and scratching his head 
in order to stimulate his mental abilities, 
he continued, ‘ I should like to wring 
all their blessed necks off, that I should,’ 
adding as an after thought, ‘ Starlings as 
well.’ With this powerful observation 
he passed on, evidently pleased at even 
the very thought of such a delightful 
though impossible prospect of wholesale 
slaughter. 
In a Country lane. 
Turning into the lane in the delicious 
July evening the hedgerow foliage 
seemed so cool and dainty as the shadow 
of summer cloud passed across the dales. 
Suddenly I stood enthralled as there un¬ 
folded a scene of unparalleled splendour 
—a few leafy boughs from the elder, 
pulled down to make a bower, its flowers 
just beginning to shed its creamy- 
coloured petals, the delicate blossom of 
the blackberry bush hung in clusters and 
festoons, and even still there lingered 
an aged thorn, whose wrinkled face was 
almost hidden from view by the climb¬ 
ing ivy, while the richly tinted maple 
leaves gave an additional charm and 
variety of colour to this ideal arbour. 
Its solitary inhabitant, one could hardly 
describe as artistic in taste or anxious 
about creature comforts, for here a 
hedgehog lay in congenial surroundings 
enjoying to the full the simple life. 
There was a garden in front, an infini¬ 
tude of dainty grasses, a fernery with 
moss-covered stones, and a gorgeous 
vista of hyacinths, foxgloves, and a 
thousand other forms of life revelling in 
the carnival of summer. Gracefully they 
waft their sweet incense into the hush 
of the twilight. The rugged grandeur 
the Rooks in the distance inspired a 
feeling of faith and hope as they rapidly 
faded from view in the dim haze of 
gathering night, but only £ until the day 
break and the shadows flee away.’ ” 
Insect Eating Birds. 
When settlement began, New Zealand 
farmers gave a hearty invitation to the 
small birds of England to help in the 
great work of colonisation. The 
colonists were in a rather sad plight 
then, through plagues of caterpillars 
which threatened to make farming on 
anything like a large scale impossible. 
The gathering of the insects caused con¬ 
sternation. They advanced through the 
country in armies, devouring crops and 
leaving fields as bare as if the seed had 
not been sown. 
A telegram published in the leading 
New Zealand newspapers about that time 
stated that the morning and evening 
trains between Waver ley and Nukumaru, 
in the Wanganui district, on the west 
coast of the North Island, were brought 
to a standstill owing to , countless thou¬ 
sands of caterpillars being on the rails, 
which had to be swept and sanded before 
the trains could continue their journeys. 
Some of the native birds performed 
good services by eating insects, but the 
native birds of New Zealand are shy, and 
will not dwell with men. The settlers, 
therefore, turned their attention to the 
insect-eating birds of the Old Country. 
The Sparrow, the Hedge-sparrow, the 
Song-thrush, the Blackbird, the Green¬ 
finch, the Chaffinch, the Goldfinch, the 
Redpoll, the Yellow Hammer, the Cirl- 
bunting, the Starling, the Skylark, and 
other birds were introduced. 
They accepted the task allotted to 
them, took up their permanent residence 
in the Colony, and fed on the fat of the 
land. But the colonists felt that they 
repaid kindness with ingratitude. The 
regard that was once felt for them has 
been turned to bitter hatred. There is 
a hue and cry against them, and most 
of the farmers in the Colony would now 
willingly banish them from the land if 
they could. 
