M 



ay. 



1919] 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



41 



to gather in flocks about October. The number I 

 should judge, would be well up in the thousands 

 and it has materially increased ever since. They 

 fed principally on corn and dead animals and also 

 on garbage in the towns. Every time we had a 

 cold spell hundreds of them died. I am told that 

 the place where they have been in the habit of 

 roosting (McGavin's) the ground is now (Feb. 

 10 h, 1918) covered with dead crows." 



Mr. William Holmes residing about 4 miles below 

 Chatham, relates that there was a great flight of 

 crows in 1904, large numbers remaining all winter 

 feeding on the corn left standing in the fields, or 

 in the fields in stocks. Thousands died. As Mr. 

 Holmes protected the crows on his property, his 

 orchard of 400 trees was "literally packed, and the 

 ground underneath (was also) packed, and the pigs 

 (were) busy every day for weeks eating the frozen 

 and blind, as there seemed to be a disease of the 

 eyes, a white film growth over the eyeball. Though 

 they seemed healthy and strong (they) would walk 

 around as blind as a bat." They remained with him 

 until late in the spring. 



There is no doubt but that the affection from 

 which the crows were suffering was the same as that 



described by Eldon Howard Eaton''^ as occurring 

 in the Canandaigua Crow Roost of New York 

 State in December, 1901. This disease he determ- 

 ined to be "roup," and his description of "the 

 eyes" being "usually blinded by a membrane form- 

 ing over the exterior of the cornea" agrees accur- 

 ately with Mr. Holmes' description given above. 

 Eaton states that the disease did not appear either 

 "in the Rochester roost or in that near Niagara 

 Falls" . . . "the disease disappeared with the 

 coming warm weather." The last evidence of it 

 noted by Eaton was on April 6. He states "it is 

 probable that one thousand crows died of this 

 d sease during the last winter in Ontario county." 

 Both Mr. Johnston and Mr. Homes believe that 

 the crows assisted in the spread of the San Jose 

 scale, which Mr. Johnston states was first intro- 

 duced into the orchards along the Lake Erie shore 

 on nursery stock from the United States. Mr. 

 Holmes informed me that the scale made its first 

 appearance in his orchards the summer following 

 the great flight of crows, and in spite of all his 

 endeavors to check it, in three years' time it had 

 "won out." The whole orchard along the river was 



^'^^'"^- M. Y. Williams. 



*Auk. Vol. XX, isio:;, pi). .^T-r.n. 



BOOK NOTICES AND REVIEWS. 



Class Book of Economic Entomology, with 

 special reference to the economic insects of the 

 Northern United States and Canada. Philadelphia: 

 P. Blakeston's Son & Co., 436 pp., 257 illustrations; 

 price $2.50. 



We were much pleased to see this new volume 

 on insects, prepared by one of our own members 

 one who is held in high regard by entomologists 

 generally not only throughout Canada, but the 

 United States as well. The volume is a class 

 book of Economic Entomology, with special refer- 

 ence to the economic insects of the Northern Unr.ea 

 States and Canada. It is a companion voluipe to 

 Reese's book on Economic Zoology. It is divided 

 into four parts: Part I, discusses the structure, 

 growth and economics of insects; Part II, the 

 identification of insects injurious to farm, garden 

 and orchard crops, etc. ; Part III, the classification 

 and description of common insects; Part IV, the 

 control of injurious insects. 



Briefly, this new book on Economic Entomology 

 is one which undoubtedly will be well received. It 

 will certainly find a useful place among economic 

 students. The descriptions are concise and to the 

 point, the illustrations well chosen and the printing 

 excellent. A.G. 



The Works of J. Henri Fabre. Translated by 

 Teixeira De Mattos. N.Y., Dod, Mead & Co. 

 The writings of the great French naturalist, J. 

 Henri Fabre are only now becoming widely known 

 though the writer was a contemporary of Darwin. 

 To those who do not understand French, these 

 works are now available in their entirety by the 

 English translation. 



To the entomologist of the old school who studies 

 nature for the wonders of her works rather than for 

 the shekels which are now offered to a professional 

 student, these volumes will prove a delight, which 

 we believe, has never before been equalled in the 

 realms of science. Nor should they be neglected by 

 the professional who will discover in their contents, 

 details in observation in methods of study and in 

 habits that must prove of great value even to the 

 most proficient. 



It is, perhaps, enough in this short notice to say 

 that these works are teeming with facts presented in 

 a manner that only a Frenchman seems capable of, 

 and this lucidity seems to have been fully maintained 

 by the translator. 



These works are, to all intents and purposes, with- 

 out technical language and deal with a great range 

 of subjects as will be noted from the following 

 titles already published: "The Life of the Spider", 



