70 Journal of the Mitchell Society [August 



dent ? Is it really rare ? What are its economic relations, that 

 is, is it beneficial, or harmful, or merely neutral ? And if is 

 neutral, or practically so, on which side of the balance would its 

 weight be felt if it should in future increase to excessive num- 

 bers ? 



These are logical and reasonable questions, and such as the 

 public might expect biologists to be able to answer. Yet at 

 present this information in any detail at least, is lacking for the 

 majority of our native animals. ]^orth Carolina is not poorer 

 in this respect than most other states, but it wuold seem to be a 

 reasonable ambition to assemble and publish such facts and 

 data, as would give us some reliable source for reference on 

 such matters. 



A very little sincere study will show any student that the 

 general public has little or no really definite knowledge to 

 offer on these questions. For example, among our native ani- 

 mals no group is more appreciated than the birds, yet if we ask 

 even an intelligent layman to name the birds which he positively 

 knows at sight, we will find that his list is pitifully scant, and 

 his knowledge of these few indefinite. Even our favorite Mock- 

 ing-bird is often confused with the Logger-head Shrike, a bird 

 whose habits are totally different and which resembles the 

 Mocker only in superficial appearance. A single female of the 

 Rusty Blackbird would certainly often pass as a " Catbird," the 

 whole group of dull-colored but interesting and important Spar- 

 rows pass by such indefinite and misleading names as " bush 

 sparrows " and " field birds," and the large family of Wood- 

 warblers, which is the most gaily colored group of all and one of 

 the most abundant in individuals and species, — is scarcely 

 known at all except to bird students. 



And if this is true in the field of Ornithology, which is one 

 of the most popular of all the branches of Biology, how much 

 more is it true of the other branches, especially those which deal 

 with the so-called " lower " and more obscure groups of ani- 

 mals, and of plants? Even the most intelligent farmers have 

 very little really definite knowledge of the weeds which annoy 

 them, or of the insects which attack their crops. 



