ong without being discovered."

"Did they cause great destruction among the flocks of sheep?"

"Yes, until they were found out and the war began against them they were
terribly destructive. One man lost two hundred sheep out of three
hundred, another lost nineteen out of twenty, and several others in the
same proportion. Even now, although the number of parrots is diminished
enormously, the flocks in the region where they abound lose at least two
per cent. every year from that cause."

"Is there any way of exterminating them by poison?"

"No way has been discovered as yet, as the birds are very cunning and
cannot be readily induced to take poisoned food. They are more wary in
this respect than rabbits and sparrows, as both of these creatures can
be poisoned, though the danger is that in attempting to poison them the
food is apt to be taken by domestic animals or fowls."

"Speaking of poisoning reminds me of an instance in Queensland some
years ago, where there was a large number of blacks inhabiting the
forest near a sheep station.

"The owner of the station had been greatly annoyed by the blacks, who
had killed many of his sheep, and in several instances had threatened
the shepherds with death, and driven them from their places. He
determined to get even with them, and this is the way he did it. He
loaded a cart with provisions such as flour, sugar, bacon, tea, and
other things, which were distributed to the shepherds once a week. Then
the cart started apparently on its round. Near the place where the
blacks were congregated one of the wheels of the cart came off, and at
the same time the vehicle became stuck in a gully. The driver took his
horses from the shafts and rode back to the station for help, leaving
the cart and its load unguarded.

"Here was a fine opportunity for the blacks to exercise their thieving
propensities, and they did not miss it. In less than an hour the cart
was stripped of everything edible, flour, sugar, and everything else
being carried away. When the driver returned, he found only the empty
vehicle with which to continue his journey.

"That afternoon the blacks had a grand feast over the stolen property.
All the members of the tribe came together and took part in the feast,
about two hundred in all. It so happened that everything edible had been
dosed with strychnine before the cart was loaded, and in a few hours
all who had partaken of the feast were dead. Much as the white people
a