[Apri 
226 Recent Literature. 
The list of game birds contains not only descriptions and other informa- 
tion of value to the general reader and sportsman, but a discussion of the 
distribution of each species in the State including a large number of original 
records. The report forms another valuable addition to the literature of 
West Virginian ornithology and a work that can be consulted with profit 
by anyone interested in the history of American game birds, either from 
the point of view of the sportsman or the naturalist. A number of interest- 
ing photographs illustrate Mr. Brooks’ paper the most noteworthy from an 
ornithological standpoint being a set of four eggs of the Duck Hawk on a 
ledge on the Great Cacapon River and a nest with three eggs of the Mourn- 
ing Dove.— W. 8. 
Forbush’s recent Bulletins on Economic Biology.— The Massa- 
chusetts State Board of Agriculture has recently issued a valuable Bulletin 
on ‘The Natural Enemies of Birds,’! by Edward Howe Forbush, State 
Ornithologist. The balance of nature, a matter that is too often ignored 
in the present day enthusiasm for bird protection, is first considered, and 
then follows a detailed discussion of the several classes of bird enemies; 
mammals — domestic and wild; birds and reptiles. 
Mr. Forbush rightly divides bird enemies into two groups ‘‘(1) Those 
introduced from foreign countries and which therefore tend to disturb the 
balance of nature, and should be eliminated so far as possible except when 
under control, either in domestication or in captivity. Such are the dog, 
house rat, ferret, cat, hog, ox, horse, sheep and goat, English Sparrow and 
Starling. (2) The native natural enemies, which have through thousands 
of years become perfectly adjusted in their relation to the species on which 
they prey. These should not be eliminated, with the exception of those 
few that threaten our lives or our material welfare, but should be con- 
served and controlled according to our needs. When a species becomes too 
numerous it should be reduced in numbers, if too few it should be allowed 
to increase.” 
The ninth annual report of the State Ornithologist ? presents much 
matter of interest to those who are trying to interest the public in methods 
of practical bird protection, while another edition of Mr. Forbush’s admir- 
able Bulletin on ‘The Domestic Cat’? testifies to the demand for this 
publication and the awakening of the public mind to a serious consideration 
of the cat question. Arrangements have been made to supply this Bulletin 
to Audubon societies which may desire it for distribution.— W. 8. 
1The Natural Enemies of Birds. By Edward Howe Forbush. Economic Biology — 
Bulletin No. 3. Mass. State Board of Agriculture. 1916. pp. 1-58. ‘ 
2 Ninth Annual Report of the State Ornithologist, Mass. State Board of Agriculture, for 
the year 1916. By Edward Howe Forbush. December 6, 1916. pp. 1-26. 
3 ef. Auk, 1916, p. 339. 
