l8 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY [Bull. 



the great horned owl, are probably the only birds of prey that 

 are in any considerable degree injurious to agriculture in Con- 

 necticut. It is matter of regret that the publication of this bul- 

 letin has been so long delayed, owing to the pressure of other 

 duties and cares which made it impossible for the authors to 

 give the amount of time necessary for the completion of the 

 work. Happily a very competent editorial assistant was found 

 in W. P. Bliss, M.A., of Columbia University. Mr. Blisses 

 himself an earnest student of the birds, and his general train- 

 ing has given him an excellent fitness for editorial work. By 

 his work in the collation of the notes of Mr. Sage and Dr. Bishop, 

 it has been made possible to bring this valuable bulletin to com- 

 pletion. 



Bulletin 22, by Mr. Viereck, of the United States National 

 Museum, forms the second instalment of the work on the Insects of 

 Connecticut, under the general direction of Dr. Britton, of the Con- 

 necticut Agricultural Experiment Station. It deals with the 

 Hymenoptera, which form one of the largest and most important 

 of the orders of insects. The marvelous instincts and habits of 

 bees, wasps, and ants have always attracted the interest of 

 thoughtful observers. Many of the Hymenoptera are of very 

 great economic interest. The bees, by their transportation of 

 pollen from flower to flower, are indispensable for the fertilization 

 and consequent propagation of a great many plants. Many of 

 the smaller Hymenoptera, as the ichneumon flies, are parasitic 

 upon other insects, and thus serve to keep in check insects which 

 would otherwise be destructive pests to the agriculturalist. Some 

 of the Hymenoptera, on the other hand, as the saw-flies, are them- 

 selves prominent among the destroyers of agricultural products. 

 Mr. Viereck is himself a specialist on some of the groups of 

 Hymenoptera, and he has had the aid of a number of 

 collaborators who are specialists on other groups of this large 

 and varied order. Among the writers who have contributed 

 chapters to the work, are the following: — Alexander Dyer 

 MacGillivray, Assistant Professor of Entomology and Inver- 

 tebrate Zoology in Cornell University; Charles Thomas Brues, 

 Curator of Invertebrate Zoology, Public Museum, Milwaukee, 

 Wis. : William Morton Wheeler, Professor of Economic Entomol- 

 ogy in Harvard University. 



Bulletin 23 treats of the Peat Deposits of Connecticut. Like 

 other regions covered by the great ice sheets of the Glacial period, 

 the surface of Connecticut was left dotted with innumerable lakes 

 and ponds, many of which have been converted into peat bogs 

 by the accumulation of the debris of vegetation. The peat is not 

 only of great scientific interest, both to the geologist and to the 

 botanist, but possesses considerable economic importance, having 



