BUREAU or BIOLOGICAL. SURVEY. 357 



because of the skill with which inferior furs are now dressed and 

 dyed in imitation of more valuable peltries. 



Durinf^ the year much information has been furnished inquirers 

 throu<ili correspondence and tlie issuin*^ of circulars and bulletins. 

 An article entitled " Trapping on the Farm " was published in the 

 Yearbook of the Department of Afrriculture for 1919, and a manu- 

 scrij)t for a department circular completed for publication on " Main- 

 tenance of the Fur Supply."' 



ECONOMIC ORNITHOLOGY. 



As in the previous fiscal year, investigation of damage by various 

 birds ]:)rotected under treaty between Great Britain and the United 

 States was a special feature of the work. Provisions of the migra- 

 tory-bird treaty act authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to issue 

 |)ermits to kill any of the protected birds when found seriously 

 injurious to agricultural or other interests. This is a wise and 

 beneficent arrangement, for there is no doubt that the true interests 

 of both bird protection and agriculture are furthered by facilities 

 for the constant adjustment of the numbers of birds in relation to 

 <!ie supplies of food they may consume without detriment to man. 

 When birds increase to such an extent that these supplies no longer 

 suffice for them, and they make serious inroads on cultivated crops, 

 control measures are justified, and it is fortunate that the department 

 has at its command this indispensable part of a well-balanced pro- 

 gram in economic ornithology. 



Investigations of the economic relations of various groups of birds 

 were continued during the year, the birds receiving most attention 

 being the P'nglish sparrow, the vireos, j^ellow-legs, Wilson snipe or 

 jacksnipe, hawks, and oavIs, and the redhead and scaup or bluebill 

 ducks. A number of manuscripts were prepared for publication, 

 those not mentioned elsewhere in this report being " The Crow in 

 Its Relation to Agriculture " and " Community Bird Refuges," pre- 

 pared for publication as farmers' bulletins; and as department bulle- 

 tins, a report on the '* Fish-eating Birds of the United States," " Food 

 and Economic Relations of North American Grebes," " Food of 

 American Phalaropes, Avocets, and Stilts," and " Food Habits of the 



ireos. 



MEADOWLARKS AND DftVES IN SOUTHERN STATES. 



An investigation conducted during the year having demonstrated 

 that meadowlarks are seriously destructive of sprouting oats and 

 corn in South Carolina, an order was issued by the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture permitting aggressive measures against the birds from No- 

 venilier 1, 1919, to April 30, 1920. Investigations of similar com- 

 ]daints against mourning doves were not conclusive. 



ROBINS DESTROYING CHERRIES IN NEW YORK. 



Complaints that robins do considerable damage in the commercial 

 t'herry-growing regions of New York, received both from individual 

 fruit growers and from horticulfui'al oi'ganizations, led to an investi- 

 gation of the trouble. It was found tliat during the ripening season 

 of small fruits robins were securiuir most of their sustenance from 



