134 



larvae, wireworms, click beetles and weevils, but that the preservation 

 of this bird in great numbers would ensure the local extinction of many 

 more useful migrant insectivorous birds. 



Similarly pheasants, when in abnormal numbers, may be a potential 

 source of harm to the farmer, but ordinarily are beneficial, as their 

 food consists largely of the seeds of weeds, Bibio larvae, wireworms, 

 cUck beetles, plant lice, garden chafers, ants, and crane-flies. There 

 are excellent grounds for the belief that pheasants are a valuable 

 remedial measure on land infested with wireworms, estates on which 

 they are preserved being practically free from this pest, owing to the 

 fact that the yoimg birds are entirely insectivorous. 



Sanderson (E. D.) & Peairs (L. M.). School Entomology: An 

 Elementary Textbook of Entomology. —Neiv York, John Wiley & 

 Sons, Inc. London, Chapman & Hall, Ltd., 356 pp., 233 figs. 

 Price 7s. net. 



This textbook presents the subject of entomology in a simple manner 

 and is suitable for use in secondary schools or agricultural short 

 courses. The first part deals with general entomology, a chapter being 

 allotted to each of the principal natural orders. The second part 

 comprising six chapters on economic entomology and insect control 

 are planned with the object of giving in a limited space as concise an 

 idea as possible of the commoner injurious forms in America, and the 

 composition of the more usual insecticides employed against them. 

 The text is profusely illustrated and the appendices contain useful 

 lists of pubHcations on injurious insects, while a general index to the 

 volume is included. 



The value and importance of textbooks such as this must be generally 

 admitted, when it is realised — to quote from the preface — that the 

 total annual loss due to insect injuries in the United States is estimated 

 " at not far from the stupendous sum of one billion dollars," grain and 

 forage crops bearing about one-third of this total. 



GuENAux (G.). Entomologie et Parasitologie Agricoles. — Encyclopedie 

 Agricole, Paris, J. B. Bailliere & ,Fils, 1917, 592 pp., 427 figs. 

 3rd Edition, revised and enlarged. Price : paper, 5 francs ; cloth, 

 6 francs. 



This new edition is one of two volumes on agricultural zoology, and 

 deals exclusively with Invertebrates injurious to agriculture. The 

 bulk of the volume is given to the insects, and this section begins wi*th 

 a general description of the structure and classification of insects 

 with the essential characteristics and principal subdivisions of the 

 various families. Following this is a review of the insects noxious to 

 cultivation, classified under the various crops which they damage. 

 Finally, the insects attacking domestic animals and man, houses, 

 timber, clothing and food are dealt with, as well as those beneficial to 

 crops. 



The book is designed primarily for the growers of plant crops, who 

 only too frequently have no means of recognising or dealing with the 



