52 NATURAL SCIENCE. Jan.. 



has inquired, it appears that the downy woodpecker is the most 

 beneficial. At one time, as we know from the writings of the older 

 American ornithologists such as Wilson, the red-headed woodpecker 

 was habitually killed because it was accused of destroying great 

 quantities of fruit. Mr. Beal has satisfied himself that the charge 

 was enormously exaggerated. We hope that this report may induce 

 the Department of Agriculture to take steps for the protection and 

 encouragement of all the species of woodpeckers that are found in the 

 United States. 



From woodpeckers we pass to crows ; Beal's little brochure 

 deals with the common Purple Grackle {Quiscalns qnismla), and two 

 subspecies, and is mainly concerned with the problem whether the 

 benefits conferred on farmers by their services in destroying injurious 

 insects outbalance the undoubted injury which they inflict on 

 cereal crops. The additional charge against the grackle is that it 

 destroys the nestlings of other birds, a charge which Mr. Beal 

 considers to have been treated too seriously. He has satisfied him- 

 self that the food of the grackle for the whole year consists of animal 

 and vegetable matter in nearly equal proportions. " Upon the whole, 

 crow blackbirds are so useful that no general war of extermination 

 should be waged against them. While it must be admitted that at 

 times they injure crops, such depredations can usually be prevented. 

 On the other hand, by destroying insects they do incalculable good." 

 We commend these remarks to Miss Wright. 



Corn is an important crop throughout the territory of the United 

 States, and in many States the area devoted to it exceeds the com- 

 bined areas of all other cereals. It was, therefore, highly appropriate 

 that an enquiry should be made as to whether the popular opinion 

 that the crow is highly injurious to agricultural interests, since " it 

 devours corn under all circumstances," is or is not well founded. 

 Mr. Barrows devotes the second, third, and fourth chapters of his 

 pamphlet to reviewing the animal food, insect food, and vegetable 

 food discovered in the stomachs of more than 900 crows, and arrives 

 at the conclusion that the vegetable food of the crow amounts to 

 about 57 per cent, of the whole food. Of this, corn is of most 

 importance, but the crow feeds also on acorns, mast, and many other 

 wild fruits. The insects found in the stomachs of the crows in 

 question have been, as far as possible, identiined by Mr. Schwarz, 

 who has done his best to decide whether the insects so consumed 

 were injurious or the reverse. In the course of the examination of 

 the food of the goo crows, many curious facts have come to light, as, 

 for example, the destruction by crows of great quantities of frogs and 

 toads. The Report is eminently worthy of the thoughtful considera- 

 tion of all who are in any way interested in the Corvidas, or in the 

 relations of birds to modern agriculture. Much credit is due to the 

 authors of this essay for the clear and lucid way in which they have 

 marshalled together a wide array of facts. 



The North Sea Fisheries. 



An Examination of the Present State of the Grimsby Trawl Fishery, 

 with special reference to the destruction of immature fish. By Ernest W. L. 

 Holt. Journal of the Marine Biological Association, n.s., vol. iii , pp. 337-448 

 and chart. Plymouth, 1895. Price 3s. 6d. 



This is an essay of over 100 pages on the North Sea Fisheries 

 and their prospects, which occupies a whole number of the M. B. A. 

 Journal, and is certainly one of the most important contributions that has 

 yet been made by the professional zoologist to the discussion of practical 



