ar 
a THE GEELONG NATURALIST. 
of Sparrows, Green-finches, Gold-finches, etc., all grain 
‘feeders, and condemned in Europe for the damage they do to 
the farmers and gardeners’ crops. The sparrow has now a 
good hold in this country; the green-finch is fast obtaining 
it, and can be seen any morning associating with the sparrows 
in the different gardens around the town. Gold-finches have 
also been shot in several places close to Geelong. The 
persons whose interest it is to bring grain-feeding birds to 
our shores are the dealers and professional bird catchers. 
There is a class of men who do nothing else but travel about, 
netting birds in great quantities, and exporting them to 
different countries; the grain-feeding birds are preferred on 
account of the easy way they can be fed, and on account of 
their being more hardy, the insect eaters having to be fed on 
prepared food. "When they get the birds to their destination 
they are sold to the dealers, these retail them out; some of 
the birds get loose—the mischief is done, andthe agriculturalist 
has to pay. We could stop this by a heavy duty, or pro- 
hibiting them landing; we have feathered enemies enough 
without importing them. Among the native pests we can 
safely place the different Parrot tribes, in spite of their brilliant 
plumage; then again, we have the Zoterops, and some of : 
the Honey-eaters, to destroy our fruit; and in the forest, the 
Satin and other birds destroy our vegetable crops; while, 
among our fish, the Cormorant and Egrets play sad havoc. 
Some time since I shot a blue Egret by the" Barwon, 
and in his crop were about 50 young fish of different varieties. 
Then again we have the Eagle-hawk ; this bird is no friend 
to the sheep farmer, and neither is the common Crow, which 
hang around the squatters sheep, picking the eyes out of the 
living sheep and lambs, and all those who are too weak to 
defend themselves. Such is a short review of some of the 
birds who are really our friends, and those who do us harm. 
TAXIDERMY. 
On the 29th March Mr. W. Shaw contributed a very in- 
structive practical lesson on the art of skinning and mounting 
birds. Mr. Shaw very clearly pointed out the various 
difficulties that were met with by beginners, and how to over- 
come them, explaining the processes of preserving the skins, 
and the necessity for obtaining the false body as near the 
actual size and shape as possible of the one which has to be 
removed. The members and friends present seemed to 
thoroughly appreciate the lesson which was given in a con- 
versational way, and questions were occasionally asked as 
the work proceeded, without any inconvenience or interruption. 
Mr. Shaw was accorded a hearty vote of thanks at the close. 
