453 
the  hands  of  the  operator.  Another  find  of  economic  as  well  as  of 
bionomic  interest  is  that  of  the  injurious  '  cotton  stainer  ’  {Pysdercus 
sp.)  :  a  pest  which  simply  swarms  in  the  cotton  plantation  in  the 
Parish  of  St.  Andrew,  where,  if  the  birds  were  numerous  enough,  they 
might  do  yeoman  service  in  checking  the  ravages  of  this  insect. 
Another  record  of  interest  in  reference  to  the  food  of  this  bird 
was  made  one  day  in  the  month  of  January,  while  watching  the 
habits  of  a  small  family  party  bringing  food  to  a  fully-fledged  young- 
one,  which  had  perched  itself  in  a  very  convenient  place  for 
observation,  quite  close  to  where  the  writer  was  seated.  At  first  one 
of  the  old  birds  was  seen  to  advance  with  a  huge  mouthful  of  some¬ 
thing,  appearing  most  like  a  bundle  of  dark  coloured  feathers,  which 
it  was  seen  to  procure  from  the  foot  of  a  tree  not  far  away.  This 
object  was  offered  to  the  young  bird  and  accepted  by  it  immediately ; 
and  while  it  was  making  a  strenuous  effort  to  swallow  the  dry-looking 
morsel,  a  couple  of  missiles  thrown  into  the  tree  made  it  relinquish 
its  hold  of  the  object,  which,  when  secured,  proved  to  be  the  somewhat 
mangled  remains  of  one  of  the  huge  black  ‘  Witch  Moths  ’  {Erebus 
argarista),  measuring  originally  nearly  six  inches  in  the  wing  expanse. 
The  Domestic  Fowl 
It  is  common  knowledge  amongst  the  pen  keepers  of  the  Island 
that  the  domestic  fowl  feeds  to  a  marked  extent  upon  cattle  ticks. 
The  writer  had  several  opportunities  of  confirming  this,  and  of  noting 
also  that  where  domestic  fowls  were  not  kept  that  ‘  grass  lice  ’  occurred 
in  countless  numbers  inside  the  cattle  -pens,  collecting  together  in 
enormous  masses  on  any  convenient  platform  that  would  afford  them 
a  means  of  securing  a  host.  The  parents  of  these  had  evidentl)' 
dropped  from  the  cattle  when  the  latter  were  brought  into  the  pen  ; 
and  in  the  absence  of  fowls  had  brought  forth  young,  without 
apparently  any  check.  Mr.  Stafford  Maxwell,  one  of  the  many 
contributors  who  furnished  us  with  observations  on  ticks,  evidently 
attaches  great  importance  to  this  matter,  and  says  that  ‘by  keeping 
the  pens  swept  and  clean  and  allowing  “Indian  Game  Fowls”  to 
run  in  the  pens  they  pick  up  any  ticks  which  fall  from  the  cattle,  and 
the  pens  are  thereby  kept  free  from  these  pests.’ 
vv 
