Vol "m9 XVI ] ^cent Literature. 609 



An Essay on Crows. — In a paper ' devoted chiefly to the Austrahan 

 Corvidae, W. W. Froggatt gives interesting historic lore, and notes on the 

 habits of crows and ravens of all parts of the world. The American Crow 

 is treated under the name Corvus corone. 



The Australian Crows, like their relatives the world over, are severely 

 criticised for certain injurious traits, and Mr. Froggatt is in sympathy with 

 efforts to control their numbers when necessary. On the other hand, he 

 points out their valuable habits in the way of feeding on insects and in 

 cleaning up carrion. He asserts that they are the best scavenger birds in 

 Australia, and that it is preferable to maintain them in numbers than to 

 introduce carrion-feeder birds from other countries, a movement that has 

 actually been taken up by the Australian Government. In a land where 

 the introduction of exotic species has proved so disastrous as it has in 

 Australia, it would seem that further experiments along this line would be 

 avoided.— W. L. M. 



Two Papers on African Economic Ornithology.— Captain S. S. 

 Flower and Mr. M. J. Nicoll are the authors of a profusely and well illus- 

 trated brochure 2 intended to acquaint the people of Egypt with 25 of the 

 more important birds protected by law. The authors state that previous 

 efforts along educational lines have borne fruit. Protected birds are still 

 sold for food in Cairo, however, being picked to hide their identity. Better 

 knowledge of the birds on the part of officials, one of the objects of the 

 bulletin reviewed, is expected to help end this traffic. The authors remark 

 that: " Egypt is a country specially adapted to ravages by insect-pests, 

 because natural enemies of these insects (e. i., birds) are scarce. It is 

 recognized as an axiom that no artificial system of insect destruction is 

 comparable in effect with that which nature herself imposes by means of 

 natural enemies, and it therefore becomes essential that every possible 

 effort to preserve insectivorous birds should be carried out by the cultiva- 

 tors, as well as being supported by all who have an interest in the welfare 

 of agriculture in the country." 



In an account of ' Some Insects Injurious to the Black Wattle {Acacia 

 mollissima Wild.),' a tanbark plant, C. B. Hardenberg notes 3 that birds 

 have both an injurious and a beneficial relation with respect to the chief 

 insect enemy of the plant, the bagworm. Circumstantial evidence indicates 

 that birds serve to distribute the pest, but the bird-carried bagworms usu- 

 ally are insignificant compared to the general infestation due to other agen- 

 cies. Four kinds of birds have been observed feeding on the bagworm 

 in various stages, thus contributing toward the natural control of this 

 well-protected insect. — W. L. M. 



1 The Crow Family. The Australian Zoologist, Vol. 1, Pt. 6, Nov. 11, 1918, pp. 189-195. 

 3 The Principal Species of Birds Protected by Law in Egypt. Ministry Agr., Cairo. 

 1918, pp. iv+8, 8 Col. Pis. 



3 Bui. 1, 1918, Dept. Agr., Union, S. Africa, 1919, pp. 25, 34-35. 



