IV. 
Ornithology in Relation to Agriculture 
and Horticulture. 
HE subject of agricultural and horticultural economics, considered 
in the relations of birds and insects to the produce of the soil, is 
one which, till recent years, has been singularly neglected in this 
country. In France, Belgium, and especially in America, as 
well as in other civilised countries, the most careful and practical 
investigations, under the assistance of the State, have led to the 
accumulation and diffusion of much valuable information on this and 
kindred subjects. In England, the researches of Miss Eleanor A. 
Ormerod (late consulting Entomologist to the Royal Agricultural 
Society of England) are recognised as of great value in enabling the 
farmer and gardener to detect the various insect pests which take tithe 
of his crops, and in teaching him how best to apply suitable remedies 
for their prevention or extirpation. 
In the present volume the editor, Mr. John Watson, has brought 
together a series of useful papers and notes by various naturalists, 
whose names are a sufficient guarantee of the high practical value of 
the opinions expressed, in connection with ornithology in its bearings 
on agriculture and horticulture. Ontaking up the book we are some- 
what disappointed to find that it contains neither preface nor intro- 
duction stating under what circumstances the various papers were 
written, we can only conclude, therefore, that these have already 
appeared either as newspaper articles or in some serial. The book is 
divided into twelve chapters, under the various headings of Hawks 
and Falcons, Owls, Wood-Pigeon, Rook, Starling, Miscellaneous 
Small Birds, Game Birds, and an appendix, with notes and additions. 
No less than five chapters are devoted to the sparrow, those “ rats of 
the air,” ‘“‘ruffians in feathers,’’ whose mischievous and destructive 
character are recognised and acknowledged by farmers and gardeners 
over half the world. 
The larger birds of prey, buzzards, kites, goshawks, harriers, 
and the noble peregrine are now virtually extirpated in England, and 
1 ORNITHOLOGY IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. By 
various Writers. Edited by John Watson, F.L.S., &c. London: W. H. 
Allen & Co., 1893. 
