XCII REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 



the food of sparrows has been published, one on the food of game 

 birds is well advanced, and one including the results of an extended 

 economic study of liirds on a Mar3dand farm has gone to press. 



For many years California fruit growers have complained of the 

 destruction of buds and fruit b}^ birds. In order to gain definite 

 knowledge on this subject, the chief of the section was sent to Califor- 

 nia, where he spent several months studying the food habits of birds 

 in the great fruit-growing districts. Besides observing the food 

 habits and collecting the stomachs of birds killed in the fruit trees, he 

 noted and collected the kinds of wild fruits and seeds, and also the 

 insects found in the immediate neighborhood of the orchards, for aid 

 in identif} ing the stomach contents of the birds. 



Section of Game Protection and Preservation. 



Work under the Lacey Act has been continued along three prin- 

 cipal lines : (1) Publication of information on game protection ; (2) 

 improvement in the inspection service guarding the importation 

 of foreign birds and mammals ; (3) cooperation in restricting illegal 

 interstate shipment of game. 



Compilations and synopses of game laws have been issued and 

 widely distributed, and are in constant demand. Among the most 

 popular and useful of these are digests of the game laws and of the 

 laws protecting nongame birds for the current year. An annual 

 directory of State officials and organizations dealing with matters of 

 game protection was also published. 



During the year 287 permits were issued for the entry of about 200 

 mamnuds and 60,000 birds. The imported birds may l)e classed under 

 two heads — game 1)irds introduced for propagation and birds bought 

 to supply the trade in cage birds. The latter greatly exceed the 

 former in number. The inspection service, which now includes the 

 principal ports of entry of both coasts, and also Honolulu, Hawaii, is 

 now maintained by fees paid b}'' the importers. Importers complain 

 of this, and the Department would be glad to place the inspection 

 service on a permanent basis should Congress make the necessary 

 appropriation. By strict economy the service could be maintained at 

 the three most important ports of entry at a total cost of $1,000 per 

 annum. 



DIVISION OF STATISTICS. 



The work of the Division of Statistics has been continued on the usual 

 lines. With a view to further improving its crop-reporting service two 

 additional field agents have been appointed, and the statistical expert 

 who has for some years had charge of the crop statistics of foreign 

 countries competing with the United States has been sent to I^ondon, 

 England, where he is in closer touch with the statistical offices of 



