VOl 'lfl^ XI1 ] Recent Literature. 377 



The summary of the spring migration is fuller than usual owing to a 

 material increase in the corps of observers, and there are the ' Abstract of 

 Proceedings,' ' Bibliography ' and*' Club Notes.' Under the last appears 

 an account of the Twenty-fifth anniversary dinner of the Club on January 7, 

 1915, at which 66 members and seven guests were present. The average 

 attendance at the meetings during 1914 was approximately 24. — W. S. 



Publications on Bird Protection. — Mr. E. H. Forbush's annual 

 report ' as state ornithologist of Massachusetts is, as usual, full of interesting 

 facts and valuable suggestions. Among other things he shows the effect 

 of birds in checking the ravages of the army worm, the effect of the destruc- 

 tion of ducks, herons and other aquatic birds on the abundance of mosquito 

 larva? and the prevalence of diseases transmitted by these insects. 

 Ducks at least are known to devour mosquito larvae in quantities. The 

 European Starling and the havoc it causes in the orchards by pecking apples 

 and pears and devouring cherries are also considered at length. 



The Alabama Bird Day Book for 1915 2 for which the Commissioner of 

 Game and Fish, Mr. John H. Wallace, Jr., is responsible, is as usual ad- 

 mirably fitted for its purpose, replete with short sketches and poems 

 suitable for Bird Day celebrations and illustrated by some of the Mumford 

 color plates of familiar species. Alabama stands well in the lead among the 

 states of the Union in furthering the observance of Bird Day. — W. S. 



Bird Enemies of two Beetle Pests. — The huisache (Acacia famesiana) 

 a favorite shade tree in the southwest is damaged by a longicorn beetle 

 (Oncideres putator). " It is believed that the Southern Downy Woodpecker 

 (Dryobates pubescens) and probably also the Texas Woodpecker (Dryo- 

 bates scalaris bairdi) attack the larvae. While neither of these birds has 

 been found with larvae, they have been observed at work on branches that 

 contained numerous larvae of this insect and have left empty chambers 

 behind." 3 



A click beetle, seriously injurious to corn, oats and cotton, is reported 

 upon by entomologists of the South Carolina Agricultural Experiment 

 Station. They report that in both 1912 and 1913 " the elytra of this beetle 

 were recognized in the excrement of a Nighthawk, presumably Chordeiles 

 virginianus. These elytra were found to be very frequent in the excre- 

 ment of this bird in a field of tasseling corn where thousands of these 



1 Seventh Annual Report of the State Ornithologist [of Massachusetts] for the 

 Year 1914, Sixty-second Ann. Rept. State Board of Agr., pp. 1-31. January 13, 

 1915. — 



2 Alabama Bird Day Book. Issued by Department of Game and Fish. John 

 H. Wallace, Jr., Commissioner; Miss Sophia Watts, Secretary. [Montgomery, 

 Ala.] 



3 High, M. M. The huisache girdler. Bull. 184, U. S. Dept. of Agric, April 8, 

 1915, p. 8. 



