ORNITHOLOGY 



163 



but when positive evidence is sought it is 

 surprisingly hard to find. Several pur- 

 ple finches have been sent in to this office 

 which appear to have been killed in that 

 way but the evidence is not positive. The 

 State Entomologist, Dr. E. P. Felt, was 

 unable to give me positive instances when 

 I inquired of him recently and he prob- 

 ably would have informed me if he had 

 learned of any since then." 



The following extracts are also of in- 

 terest, bearing directly upon the subject 

 at hand : 



From Prof. E. H. Forbush. State Or- 

 nithologist of Mass. Report of 1912: 



"Reports of the finding of dead bn-ds 

 under trees sprayed with insecticides con- 

 tinue to come in but no great numbers 

 of birds have been found in any case, and 

 two years' work investigating the subject 

 leads to the belief that very few birds 

 are killed by spraying." 



The following from the Pureau of 

 Biological Survey at Washington, D. C. : 



'Tn response to your letter about ar- 

 senical sprays for birds, I may say that 

 there is little evidence that birds are kill- 

 ed as the result of such work. The prob- 

 lem has been investigated by the State 

 Ornithologist of Alassachusetts, by this 

 Bureau, and bv the Bureau of Entomol- 



ogy wiili the result that little tangible 

 connection could l)e established by the 

 use of sprays and other insecticides and 

 the death of any wild birds. 

 \'erv truly yours, 

 'E. W. Nelsox, 

 Acting Chief, Biological Survey." 



In conclusion, this extract from Prof. 

 H. A. Surface, D. Sc, State Zoologist of 

 Pennsylvania, who is an exceedingly care- 

 ful and painstaking investigator, seems 

 to bear out the above testimony and 

 should be convincing : 



"Replying to your letter of the 21st, 

 making inquiry concerning the poisoning 

 of birds by spraying, I can say that I 

 have watched this subject with the great- 

 est care in thousands of sprayed orchards 

 in this state, and I am prepared to say 

 with certainty that I have never known 

 a case of a bird being killed by spraying, 

 or having been found dead under circum- 

 stances that would justify the suspicion 

 that this was the cause of its death. We 

 have examined the stomachs of dead 

 birds, and have found no 'evidence of ar- 

 senic to which tlieir death could be attri- 

 buted. I live in the midst of one of the 

 largest orchards in Pennsylvania, which 

 has been sprayed frequently, and it is full 

 of birds' nests. I am sure that if spray- 



A SPR.WED TERKITORV AND PLENTY OF BIRDS. 



