750 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



important genera of Howerinjf plants and ferns are aljiliabeticully arranged. The fig- 

 ures, -which on account of the scope of the work are necessarily few in number, con- 

 sist of floral diagrams of some of the larger families as well as of some groi^ps whose 

 morphology is particularly difficult. The principles of morphology, classilication, 

 and evolution are clearly presented, and the information is for the most part brought 

 up to date. Much duplication is avoided by a system of cross references, making the 

 book reasonably complete but not bulky. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Four common birds of the farm and garden, S. B. Judd ( IT. S. 



Dept. A(/r. Yearbook 1S95, pp. 405-418. fig.s. 1<)(J-10!J). — From an exami- 

 uation of the stomachs of 213 catbirds, 15 mockingbirds, 121 brown 

 thrashers, and 52 house wrens, the author concludes that the wren is 

 most, and the catbird the least, beneficial, judging from the proportion 

 of animal to vegetable matter eaten. The general character of the 

 food of all but the mockingbird he tabulates as follows: 



Food of the catbird, brown thrasher, and house ivren. 



Catbird. 



Brown 

 thrasher. 



House 

 wren. 



Animal food : 



Ants 



CaterpiUars (Lepidoptera) 



Beetles (Coleopteia) 



Grasshoi)pers, etc. (Orthoptera) 



Bugs (Hemiptera) 



Spiders and thousand-legs, etc. (Arachnida and Myriapoda) . 

 Miscellaneous animal food 



Per cent. 



10 

 5 



14 

 4 

 2 

 4 

 5 



Per cent. 

 5 

 8 

 28 

 12 

 2 

 7 

 1 



Per cent. 



i 

 16 

 22 

 25 

 12 

 14 



5 



Total animal food . 



Vegetable food: 



Cnltivated fruits 



Wild fruits 



Grain 



Miscellaneous vegetable food. 



Total vegetable food 



44 



The 15 mockingbirds were taken during autumn and winter, a time 

 when the vegetable is in excess of the animal food. Their stomachs 

 contained the skins and pulp of some fruit, seeds of sumach, smilax, 

 black alder, poison ivy, Virginia creeper, and cedar; poke berry, mul- 

 berry, and bayberry, and the remains of spiders, ants, cateri)illars, 

 beetles, and grasshoppers. 



To protect against the depredations of the catbird upon cherries, 

 strawberries, etc., it is suggested that mulberry trees be i)lanted nearby, 

 since the birds seem to prefer the latter, lleports indicate that the 

 catbird pillages fruit crops less along the seaboard where wild fruits are 

 abundant than in the interior where such fruits are scarce; hence the 

 growth of wild fruits should be encouraged. 



The proportion of animal food to vegetable food eaten by catbirds is 

 shown to vary with the season. From observations in the field the 

 birds seemed to devote themselves to berries rather than insects; but 

 examination of the stomachs of 13 of the 15 birds watched showed that 



