BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 249 



the previous year. Only 411 permits were issued as compared with 

 454 in 1915. Inspections during the year numbered 163, as com- 

 pared with 150 in 1915, and 188,117 birds and 3,149 mammals were 

 imported under permit. Among these were 127,706 canaries, 11,547 

 miscellaneous game birds, and 41,626 nongame birds. Besides these. 

 44,827 birds and 312 mammals requiring no permits were admitted, 

 to entry. No cases of entry of prohibited species were discovered 

 during the year. 



War conditions are responsible for the almost total absence of 

 European partridges and for the small number of pheasants in the 

 shipments this year, and even the importation of the latter birds from 

 Canada shows a noticeable falling off. On the other hand, there has 

 been a remarkable increase in the number of permits for the entry of 

 foxes from the Maritime Provinces of Canada, due to the unusual 

 interest in fox farming in the United States. There has also been 

 a falling off in the importation of parrots from Mexico. 



Notwithstanding the difficulty of obtaining stock through the usual 

 channels, the principal zoological gardens have secured a number of 

 rare and interesting species, some of which have been placed on 

 exhibition in the United States during the past year for the first time. 

 Among these may be mentioned the red bird of paradise and the tiny 

 Wilson bird of paradise, natives of the Island of Waigiou, near 

 New Guinea. A pair of each of these rare birds, the first ever 

 brought alive to the United States, reached New York, December 27, 

 1915, for the New York Zoological Park. That park also received 

 a pair of the rare greater bird of paradise (Paradisea apoda). two 

 young giant herons (Ardea goliath) from Africa, and a cock of the 

 rock (Rupicola rupicola) from Guiana. 



Importation of quail from Mexico. — The issue of permits for the 

 importation of quail from Mexico was resumed in the autumn under 

 formal regulations for the entry of the birds, promulgated November 

 1, 1915. The port of entry on the Rio Grande was changed from 

 Brownsville to Eagle Pass, Tex., and, as heretofore, birds imported 

 by steamer were entered at New York. Through cooperation with 

 the Bureau of Animal Industry, actual inspection and quarantine 

 were carried out under the supervision of the inspectors of that 

 bureau at the ports of Eagle Pass and New York. Practically every 

 shipment which arrived at New York was infected with quail disease. 

 Many birds died en route or shortly after arrival and very few sur- 

 vived the period of quarantine. Quail disease was also detected in 

 a shipment at Eagle Pass, and on January 22, 1916, further importa- 

 tions were suspended. As a result the total number of birds for 

 which permits were issued was 12,989 ; of these only about 8,000 were 

 actually imported. 



Reports of the death of some of the birds which survived quaran- 

 tine led to investigation of the cause of such loss, and examination 

 of specimens sent to the department showed the presence of bird pox 

 (Epithelioma contagiosum) , a disease common in poultry, but one 

 which seems this year to have caused serious loss among imported 

 quail for the first time. Many of the birds affected seemed to have 

 been injured in transit and it is possible that the prevalence of the 

 malady this year was due to the type of crates used by shippers. 



