REPORT OF THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND MAMMALOGIST. 
Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith my second annual re- 
port upon the operations of the Division of Economic Ornithology 
and Mammalogy. It consists of two parts: (1) A statement of the 
work done during the year 1887; and (2) special reports embodying 
results of investigations. 
STATEMENT OF WORK DONE. 
The work of the division during the past year, as heretofore, has 
consisted chiefly in the collection of facts showing the relation of 
certain birds and mammals to agriculture, horticulture, and forestry; 
and in the preparation for publication of two important bulletins, 
namely, (1) on the English Sparrow, (2) on Bird Migration in the 
Mississippi Valley. In bringing together the necessary information 
two methods are employed, (a) the distribution of circulars of in- 
quiry, and (b) work in the field and laboratory. The circulars of 
inquiry are distributed to a large number of farmers and persons 
known to be interested in birds throughout the country. The field 
work is carried on by members of the division staff and by special 
field agents employed for the purpose. These persons study the dis- 
tribution and habits of the numerous species of known or supposed 
economic consequence, learning as much as possible about the food 
and breeding habits of each. Collections of stomachs are made for 
subsequent analysis, and much information is secured from farmers 
living in the neighborhood of the places visited. The results at-— 
tained in this way are of the greatest value, because none but trained 
observers are employed. The field work is supplemented by labora- 
tory work, which consists in the critical examination of the contents 
of stomachs, gizzards, and crops collected in the field. The elabo- 
ration of this material is a slow process, requiring much technical 
knowledge, as well as patience, on the part of the investigator. A 
single stomach sometimes contains representatives of several of the 
primary divisions of the animal kingdom. For instance, a Hawk’s 
craw may hold at one time the remains of a meadow-mouse, a spar- 
row, a snake, a frog, a grasshopper, an earthworm, and a snail— 
representatives of the seven primary groups, mammalia, aves, rep- 
tilia, batrachia, arthropoda, vermes, and mollusca. 
During the past year an assistant ornithologist, Dr. A. K. Fisher, 
has devoted most of his time to the study of the food material found 
in the stomachs of hawks and owls, of which the division has now 
upwards of six hundred. A brief statement of the contents of each 
stomach is made on a card prepared for the purpose, and these cards 
are arranged under species. A brief summary of the results of this 
investigation will be found in the present report. 
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