™- XXXVIIj Recent Literature. 621 



or patches of sunflowers. Within territory one mile from a lake this 

 damage does not average more than one dollar per acre; (3) The amount 

 of damage done to corn in the milk varies as the distance of the field from 

 a lake, slough or grove. On farms within half of a mile of a lake about 

 13 per cent, of the ears were damaged, on farms from a half mile to two 

 miles distant, 5 per cent, and on those more than two miles about one and 

 a half per cent. The average loss on farms of the first group is about four 

 cents per acre. The greatest damage per acre disclosed by the survey was 

 $17.00, and this in only one instance. Accompanying the report on field 

 investigation is one on the contents of the stomach of 43 Red-winged and 

 16 Yellow-headed Blackbirds from analyses made by the Biological 

 Survey. Twenty-six per cent of the food of the former birds and 2.7% 

 of the latter consisted of corn. In summing up the relations of lakes, 

 bird pests and the public it appears highly preferable that direct control 

 measures be applied to the injurious species rather than that the lakes be 

 chained, for the latter are not only of great value as recreation places, 

 but also are the center of abundance of numerous species of wild birds, 

 including valuable game birds entirely dependent upon the presence of 

 the lakes. 



In general the report reviewed gives proper weight to the hunting in- 

 terests, but the suggestion is repeated in many places that water-levels 

 must be raised to discourage dense growths of water lilies, of cat-tails, 

 rushes and of marsh as a whole. In this connection it should be kept in 

 m ind that marsh is absolutely necessary for practically all the birds which 

 are attracted by the lakes. It is their breeding home and no matter 

 how desirable it may be to boating or fishing interests to have more deep, 

 clear water, the marsh must not be sacrificed or the whole value of lake 

 conservation from the wild life standpoint will be lost. 



The report includes a useful report on the vegetation of the lakes, from 

 which a clear idea as to their wildfowl food resources can be drawn. This 

 part of the report is unexceptionable except for insistence on the point 

 just alluded to, namely suppression of marsh. If the demands for recre- 

 ation places cannot be compromised with the necessities of wild life, it 

 would seem necessary to assign the lakes definitely to the one purpose 

 or the other and treat them accordingly. While saving lakes from drain- 

 age is a conservation measure, wild life will suffer practically as much 

 from elimination of marshes as it would from drainage. In view of the 

 advanced attitude it has already taken on the subject of lake conserva- 

 tion there would seem little doubt but that the State Commission will 

 give full weight to the interests of wild life when properly presented. — 

 W. L. M. 



Bird Liming in Lower Egypt. — An interesting paper 1 with this 

 title is here somewhat belatedly reviewed and occasion taken to present 



1 Ministry of Public Works, Zoological Service Publ. No. 28, 1919, 9 pp. 



