221 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



August 20, 1919. 

 Mr. Edward M. Ehrhorn, 



Inspector of Foreign Mammals and Birds, 

 Honolulu, Hawaii. 



Dear Mr. Ehrhorn : 



I need hardly say we greatly appreciate the cordial offer of co- 

 operation contained in your letter of recent date, expressing 

 your willingness to continue the work of inspecting foreign birds 

 and mammals in tlie port of Honolulu in place of Mr. Daniel B. 

 Langford, who resigned prior to his departure for the Orient. 



Your appointment as Inspector under the same conditions as 

 that held by Mr. Langford has been issued and was mailed to you 

 a day or two ago. 



In response to your request for explicit instructions as to birds 

 to be admitted, I would like to say : 



1. No bird should be permitted to land in Hawaii which is 

 likely to prove injurious to agriculture, whether such bird is to 

 be liberated or to be kept in a cage. There are so many ways in 

 which birds, ostensibly imported for exhibition, may escape or 

 change hands and be liberated by the new owners, that the risk 

 of admission is to great to take in the case of any injurious 

 species. 



2. No species of weaver birds (Ploceidae) should be ad- 

 mitted under any circumstances. The past experience with 

 Munia (rice bird) on the Islands, and the danger of introduction 

 of other species, as for example the so-called Java sparrows 

 (Padda orydvora) or the IMadagascar weavers (Foiidia) are 

 sufficient grounds for the exclusion of any birds of these groups. 



3. No species of Fringillidae (finches) should be admitted 

 if intended for liberation. 



4. No other birds of which there is any doubt should be ad- 

 mitted for liberation. Species apparently harmless concerning 

 which you are in doubt, may be allowed to enter if kept in 

 captivity and with the understanding that they will be destroyed 

 if investigations prove them to be injurious. 



5. Pheasants, doves, quail and other game birds may be ad- 

 mitted ; also parrots and canaries intended for exhibition and 

 propagation if kept in cages. 



Any other points that are not clear to you we should be glad 

 to explain on request. 



A^ery truly yours, 



(Signed) E. W. Nelson, 



Chief of Bureau. 



