120 Recent Literature. [jan. 



We trust that this invaluable work of reference on palaearctic birds will 

 be pushed to an early completion. — W. S. 



Economic Value of Wild Birds in South Africa. — Dr. H. E. Warren, 

 Director of the Natal Museum has recently pubUshed ' an instructive 

 summary of the relation of South African birds to agriculture. Dr. 

 Warren comments on the abundance of birds in certain European countries 

 and attributes their numbers in large part to the prevalence of hedges which 

 furnish shelter and nesting sites. A noticeable scarcity of birds in South 

 Africa is thought to be due to excessive clearing, the lack of hedges, and to 

 the destructive activities of native and white boys. 



The following groups of birds are said to be beneficial : owls, kestrels, the 

 Tetraonidse, coucals, woodpeckers, barbets, hoopoes, Caprimulgidae, 

 rollers, and cuckoos. Special mention is made of locust birds, including 

 the white stork, the white-belUed stork, pratincoles, wattled starling and 

 the hadadah ibis. Other groups coming in for commendation are the 

 plovers, lapwing, cranes, the secretary-bird, ground hornbill, kites and 

 certain other birds-of-prey. The birds mentioned as injurious include 

 bulbuls, mouse-birds, and the pied starUng. — W. L. M. 



Bird Enemies of Diabroticas. — Two of the recent contributions from 

 the U. S. Bureau of Entomology, pubhshed in the new series of Bulletins 

 of the Department of Agriculture contain notes on the bird enemies of 

 destructive beetles. The southern corn rootworm ( Diabrotica duodecim- 

 punctata), the adult of which is usually known as the spotted cucumber 

 beetle, is a serious pest. High percentages of the stand of corn in some 

 localities are damaged and this in addition to losses among cucurbit and 

 other crops contribute to a total damage amounting to many thousands of 

 dollars. The ubiquitous beetle responsible for this mischief is eaten by 

 many birds. A hst of 24 species furnished by the Biological Survey is 

 pubhshed^ by Professor F. M. Webster, the author of the two bulletins 

 here mentioned. 



A closely related beetle, the western corn rootworm ( Diabrotica longi- 

 cornis), causes the same sort of damage as its congener, and to a correspond- 

 ing extent in its more limited range. The Biological Survey was able to 

 furnish ^ the names of only two bird enemies of this pest, namely the night- 

 hawk and the wood pewee. — W. L. M. 



Shelf ord's ' Animal Communities in Temperate America.' * — 



With the chief exceptions of investigations in Michigan under Adams and 



> Agr. Journ. of South Africa. VI, No. 3. Sept. 1913, pp. 461-465. 

 « BuU. No. 5. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Sept. 1913, p. 9. 

 » Bull. No. 8, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Sept. 1913, p. 6. 



* Shelford, V. E. Animal Communities in Temperate America as illustrated in 

 the Chicago region. Bull. No. 5, Geog. Soc. of Chicago, October, 1913, 362 pp. 



