388 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc 



men, I (old very plainiy, that all they had spent was lost and to 

 go ahead was merely to throw good money after bad. and had they 

 consulted, before beginning work, a competent, honest geologist, 

 he could have told them just what they found out after months of 

 hard work and the expenditure of much money for explosives and 

 labor. 



Like every other profession or calling, that of the geologist num- 

 bers, unfortunately, some dishonest men, and as no law forbids 

 it, a number of untrained and uneducated men, claiming themseves 

 as such, and in s()me instances, through ignorance or design, com- 

 mit blunders which are a disgrace to a most honorable and beloved 

 calling, and the honorable members of it suffer to some extent 

 through the rascality of the fakirs. These fellows are almost as 

 dangerous to the Commonwealth as the San Jos^ Scale is to the 

 farmer. 



REPORT OF THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 



By PROF. H. A. SURFACE, OrnitUologist . 



I take pleasure in submitting herewith the report of the Ornith- 

 ologist for the year 1908. 



The year 1908, while not unusual, has seen some interesting oc- 

 currences in the Bird World. Chief among these have been ob- 

 servations concerning the evil effects of the bird known as the 

 English Sparrow or House Sparrow. It becomes more and more 

 apparent that the act known as the Barnhart Bill, introduced into 

 the last pess^ion of the Legislature, providintr for the investigation 

 and practical experiments for destroying this pest, was a good act, 

 and should have received favorable consideration. In this country we 

 do not advocate passing sentence without trial, neither should we 

 proceed with the extermination of any kind of creature without 

 careful investigation as to its habits and economic value. We hope 

 to see such a bill given consideration this session of the Legislature, 

 and we therefore recommend favorable action thereon. 



Among the various reports concerning the sparrow is one from 

 W. H. Thomson, Greene street, Harrisburg, Pa., who reports that 

 he saw the sparrows cut off the cherry blossoms in his yard, a 

 single bird cutting off at least a dozen of these within two minutes, 

 and letting them fall to the ground, not appearing to eat them, 

 nor to make use of them. We have reports from other persons of 

 these pests eating green peas in gardens, and the shoots of many 

 kinds of plants, just as they have pushed above the ground. 



We have additional reports of the successful poisoning of the 

 English Sparrow by the use of a fev>' very small poisoned seeds 

 mixed with those not poisoned. It appears that this bird is very 

 suspicious, and in eating seeds as large as grains of wheat or 

 larger, it tastes them carefully before swallowing, and any unusual 

 taste becomes sufficient to warn the bird of danger, and it does not 

 partake readily of large seeds thus treated. However, our corres- 



