RI'^PORT OF ORNITHOLOGIST AND MAMMALOGIST. 



Sir : I liave the honor to suhmit the following report of the inves- 

 tigations of the Department in Econoraio Ornithology from the com- 

 mencement of the work, July 1, 1885, to the present time. 



As you are aware, the Forty-eighth Congress appropriated $5,000 

 for the promotion of economic ornithology, and made the work a 

 branch of the Division of Entomology. The appropriation became 

 available Jnly 1, 1885, at which time you commissioned mo to take 

 charge of the investigations, 



A year later, July 1, 1886, pursuant to an act of the Forty-ninth 

 Congress, the work was separated from the Division of Entomology 

 and made an independent division. At the same time its scope was 

 enlarged and its usefulness greatly increased, since the appropria- 

 tion of $10,000 had been granted "for the promotion of economic or- 

 nithology and mammalogy ; an investigation of the food-habits, dis- 

 tribution, and migrations of North American birds and mammals in 

 relation to agriculture, horticulture, and forestry." 



The work of the division consists in the collection of facts relating 

 to the above subjects, and in the preparation for distribution among 

 farmers and others of special reports and bulletins upon birds and 

 mammals which affect the interests of the farmer, and also upon the 

 migration and distribution of North American species. In this way 

 it is hoped to correct the present widespread ignorance concerning 

 the injurious and beneficial effects of our common birds and mam- 

 mals, and to put a stop to the wholesale destruction of useful species 

 now going on. 



IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT. 



The food of all species consists either of animal matter or vegetable 

 matter or both, and its consumption miist be serviceable or prejudi- 

 cial to the interests of mankind. Therefore, according to the food it 

 eats, each bird or mammal may be classed under one of two headings — 

 beneficial or injurious. Many species are both beneficial and inju- 

 rious, and it is impossible to assign them to either category until the 

 percentages of their food-elements have been positively determined 

 and the sum of the good balanced against the sum of the evil. 



It is well known that certain birds and mammals are directly de- 

 structive to farm crops, causing a loss of many thousands of dollars 

 eachyear, and that others are highly beneficial, preying ui)on mice 

 and insects which are injurious to vegetation; but the extent and sig- 

 nificance of these effects and their bearing on practical agriculture 

 is little understood. Morever, great difference of opinion exists, par- 

 ticularly among farmers, as to whether certain well-known species 

 are on the whole beneficial or injurious ; and many kinds which are 

 of great practical value are killed whenever opportunity offers. For 

 example, hawks and owls are almost universally regarded as detri- 

 mental, while as a matter of fact most of them never touch poultry, 



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