KEPORT OF THE SECRETAEY. 175 



of the birds of that State ever issued. Comprehensive lists of the 

 birds of Alabama and Texas are now in course of preparation. The 

 latter, on account of the richness of the Texas fauna, will include 

 more than one-half of the species known from North America north 

 of Mexico. 



FOOD HABITS OF BIRDS. 



Careful studies have been made of the food habits of birds consid- 

 ered injurious and of many species that are known to be beneficial. 

 More than 50 species of birds have been found to destroy the cotton 

 boll weevil and 31 have been found to feed on the alfalfa weevil 

 which has recently become so destructive in Utah. Special studies 

 have been made of the food of birds in the fruit-growing districts 

 in California and of special generally distributed groups, such as the 

 flycatchers, grosbeaks, shore birds, and waterfowl. A summary of 

 some of these studies, entitled " Common Birds in Kelation to Agri- 

 culture," has proved one of the most popular bulletins ever issued by 

 the department, more than half a million copies having been dis- 

 tributed in recent years. 



SPECIES INJI7RIOUS TO AGRICULTURE. 



Much attention has been devoted to species injurious to agriculture, 

 and methods have been devised for destroying English sparrows, 

 wolves, coyotes, moles, rats, ground squirrels, and prairie dogs. 

 When it is considered that 32 prairie dogs will eat as much forage 

 as one sheep and 250 prairie dogs as much as one cow, it can readily 

 be seen how important is the destruction of these animals on grazing 

 lands in the "West. Even the crawfish, which are destructive in cotton 

 fields in certain sections in Mississippi, have received attention, and 

 methods of destroying them with bisulphide of carbon have been 

 devised. This work has by no means been confined to experiments 

 on a small scale. In cooperation with the Forest Service, the prairie 

 does on considerable areas in the National Forests of Colorado have 

 been poisoned, and the mice, chipmunks, and other rodents have been 

 destroyed on seed plots and extensive tracts where the work of re- 

 forestation has been undertaken on the forests in the "West. 



GAME PROTECTION. 



In connection with the work of game protection the Biological 

 Survey is called upon to issue permits and inspect shipments of wild 

 animals and birds imported alive from foreign countries; to enforce 

 the laws relating to interstate commerce in game ; to enforce the law 

 relating to protection of birds on national bird reservations; to ad- 



