Buds in Gardens of Sydney Riddled By Imported Bird

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 7, 23 January 1937, Page 12

Buds in Gardens of Sydney Riddled By Imported Bird

SYDNEY. — Many of Australia's pests are not indigenous, but were imported from other countries. Eabbits, spartOWs, StarlingS, the cattle tick, the priekly peaf, the skeleton weed, and such fruit pests as the Mediterranean fly were all free gifts to Australia from abroad. Between them, they have done many millioiia of pounds damage to agriculture, and ihe pastbral indiistry and Governments have speht morfe millioils in trying to eradicate them. Knovm as Persiau Nightingale Now another imported visitor has been added to this list— the bulbul, sometimes Called the Persian nightingale. ,Garde*ners ftnd dtchardists complain of the great damage this bird does to bnds, blossoms, vegetables and yo^ng fruit. „ The bulbul has ihcreaSed to an exteut that W&s hot foreSeCh Wheh it Was brought from Ihdia about 30 yeai's ago, and liberated With the idea that it Would pfOve valuable in getting rid df Certain scale pests oh fruit trees. It is admitted that it helps in eatitig the scale pests, but in its adopted home, it has developed a taste for buds aiid blossOms that causes more harm thau the good it does. SeriouS DeptedatiofiS The bulbul hhs fldurished amaaiugly ih the urbafl. and Semi-urban areas of Sydney, hnd its dCpredatiohs have beeome so extensive that gardeners aud orchardists have asked the State Department of Agriculture to list it as a noxious pest and devise means Of eradicating it. Otherwise, agrieulturalists say, the bulbul will become a greater pest in Australia than either the sparrow or the starling. The bulbul is a sprightly-lookiiig crehtufe, distinguished by a black topknot that resembles a miniature dunce 's cap. The plumage of the body :s browuish above and white below, aud a btight red pateh of feathers beneath the tail is a eharaeteristie f eature in flight. It possesses an attractive song and some pretty call notes. Esact Young Brown got a job in a skipyard. The first morning the foteman gaVe him a twofOot rule and Fold him to go and measure a large steel plate. Browu returned in twenty miiiutes. "Well," inquired the foreman, " wliat's the size?" The youth displayed a satisfied griu. "It's just the length of this rule," hand, and my arm from her© to there. he said, "and two thumbs over, with this briek, and the breadth of my hand, and my arm from hcre to tliefL-, bar tho •fi^tror nails,"