23 
The brilliant rifle birds (allied to the. creepers), of which there 
are three known species, two of large size, and the no less elegant 
regent birds, would bo a great acquisition as ornamental birds ; 
and I have no doubt they could be successfully reared in con¬ 
finement by placing them in large wiro enclosures with trees, in a 
manner similar to that erected by Mr. T. Holt at Cook’s River, for 
the blackbirds and thrushes. 
It would be well to impress upon the public in this colony 
the necessity of preserving birds to a certain extent, so as to fulfil 
what nature has ordained with infinite wisdom and care, the 
equalisation of the races, and of obtaining a knowledge of 
their habits and economy, which will be found valuable to man 
as regards his comfort, as well as affording him security from 
important depredations. Many, regardless of this, are continually 
destroying useful animals, and become thereby the means of 
permitting those of a noxious kind to increase. In October 
1850, the territory of New South Wales suffered severely from 
the devastation occasioned by aphides ; and all the cruciferous 
vegetables, as cabbages, &c., were almost entirely destroyed by 
them throughout the colony, when many of the soft-billed birds, 
ruthlessly killed or driven away, might have prevented the evil. 
Every endeavour should, therefore, be made for the preservation 
of our useful and ornamental indigenous birds and animals, for 
if the wholesale destruction of birds and their eggs proceed in 
the same ratio as at present, and the acclimatisation societies in 
Europe rear and preserve them, there is no doubt we shall have 
to import many of our valuable birds from Europe, for, among 
many others, the emeu is becoming scarce in this country. In 
Tasmania, it is extinct in a wild state. Birds have been found 
of such importance in Europe to the gardener and agriculturist, 
that in the French Senate, in Juno last,, M. Bonjeau read a report 
on four petitions, praying that measures might be taken to pre¬ 
serve birds which destroy insects hurtful to agriculture. The 
report is an amusing essay upon insect-eating birds, their habits, 
anatomy, and species of food. It treats at length of the ravages 
of insects, and the importance to man of the objects they destroy. 
France, as well as other countries, is infested with thousands of 
species of insects, nearly all of which prey oil what should serve 
the purposes of man. The first section of the report is headed, 
“ Importance of Birds to Agriculture.” It states that the wire- 
worm consumed £ 160,000 worth of corn in one department alone, 
and was the cause of the three deficient harvests which preceded 
1856. Out of 504 grains of colza gathered at hazard at Versailles 
