1904 J* Recent Literature. S^Q 



expended a great deal of time and labor in bringing together the facts 

 here presented, which he has secured in large part through the issue of 

 circulars to some two hundred correspondents requesting information on 

 the points at issue. — J. A. A. 



Judd's ' The Economic Value of the Bobwhite.' — In a paper of about 

 ten pages Dr. Judd 1 treats of the economic value of the Bobwhite ( Colinus 

 virgitiiafius) as (i) a weed and insect destroyer, (2) an article of food, 

 (3) an object of sport. The food report is based on field observations and 

 an examination of Soi stomachs, collected in everj' month of the year and 



over a wide extent of country from Canada to Florida and Texas. 



The Bobwhite is found to be preeminently a seed-eater, over fifty per cent 

 of its food consisting of seeds, of which the seeds of weeds constitute the 

 bulk. On a very conservative basis " the total consumption of weed seed 

 by Bobwhites from September i to April 30 in Virginia amounts to 573 

 tons." From May to August nearly one third of the Bobwhite's food is 

 •found to be insects, which is made up largely of such injurious species as 

 the potato beetle, cucumber beetle, squash bugs, chinch bugs, cotton-boll 

 weevils, various kinds of destructive caterpillars, grasshoppers, etc. It 

 eats very little grain, and this is mainly gathered from stubble fields, and 

 it never, apparently, destroys sprouting grain, like the Crow, various 

 Blackbirds, etc., nor is it, like the Ruffed Grouse, destructive to any 

 harmful extent to leaves and buds. The importance of the Bobwhite as 

 an article of food, and also as an object of sport, is dwelt upon at some 

 length, and it is pointed out that it is possible for farmers to derive a con- 

 siderable revenue from sportsmen by promoting its increase for purposes 

 of sport. " It is believed," he says, " that if suitably managed, some 

 farms of from 500 to 1000 acres would yield a better revenue from Bob- 

 whites than from poultry." More stringent and more uniform legal pro- 

 vision is recommended for its preservation and increase. The paper 

 closes with a list of seeds, fruits, insects, etc., eaten by the Bobwhite, and 

 is illustrated by a colored plate, by Fuertes, of a Bobwhite in a potato 

 •field catching potato beetles. The utility of the Bobwhite as a weed 

 destroyer is especially emphasized. — J. A. A. 



Elrod on Birds in Relation to Agriculture. — In this paper of some 

 twenty pages, illustrated with several plates of representative birds. Pro- 

 fessor Elrod- summarizes some of the results of recent investigations of 



^ The Economic Value of the Bobwhite. By Sylvester D. Judd, Ph. D., 

 Assistant in Ornithology. Yearbook of Depart, of Agriculture for 1903, pp. 

 193-204, pi. xvi. 



^ The Relation of Birds to Agriculture. By Morton J. Elrod, University of 

 Montana. Second Ann. Rep. Montana State Board of Farmers' Institutes, 

 pp. 173-190, with 8 pll. University of Montana, Missoula, Mont., 1904. 



