THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 155 
this direction. Owing to the premature arrival of the Hinemoa 
we were unable to complete our observations, but we are able 
to add much to the previous knowledge regarding the avi-fauna, 
“Tt was, however, among the lower forms of animal life that 
we expected to reap our richest harvest, and we were not 
disappointed. It will be some considerable time before our 
‘extensive collections will be worked out, but as we have 
obtained the co-operation of almost all the New Zealand 
specialists in the various branches, such as Dr. Benham, Mr. i. 
R. Waite, Prof. Chilton and others, the material will receive 
the attention it merits. 
“ Already the preliminary examination of some stuff has 
revealed much that is new, as well as many records of immense 
value to the zoo-geographer.” 
A BIRD PROTECTION SOCIETY. 
(By Mr. L. Harrison.) 
Tun close of 1908 has brought with it the usual tale of 
newspaper paragraphs on pests—pests of grasshoppers, sheep 
fly, fluke, and other evils, which make the lot of the pastoralist 
and agriculturalist a very unhappy one. ‘The pest question, as 
everyone admits, grows more serious every year, and every 
remedy, but the natural and obvious one, has been tried with- 
out avail. So it seems a good time to suggest, once more, that 
natural means should be given a chance. 
All these pests have natural enemies in the shape of birds, 
and if the balance of nature had been left undisturbed by man, 
they would never have assumed their present magnitude. 
Birds are nature’s police force, patrolling the face of the land, 
arid keeping undesirables in check. But man, with his rabbit- 
poisoning, which kills a few rabbits and all of everything else, 
his careless shooting of birds unfit for food, his prejudice 
against the smaller insectivorous hawks because they look like 
their larger relatives, has reduced the birds, and in some parts 
of the state almost exterminated them. 
With one or two exceptions perhaps, all birds should be 
protected, both on economic and on ewsthetic—or if you prefer 
it, sentimental grounds. Asa matter of fact they are protected, 
though most people will be surprised to learn the fact. We 
have the Birds’ Protection Act of 1901, which provides all 
kinds of pains and penalties for the destruction of protected 
birds, and a framed schedule which means very little to the 
ornithologist, and absolutely nothing to the man with the gun 
or poison-cart. The administration of this Act is in the hands 
