554 Recent Literature. [oct. 



Farmers and Stockmen and Fruit and Truck Growers.' The text consists 

 largely of well selected extracts from standard publications and addresses 

 by the compiler and others. The bulletin will do a great good, reaching 

 as it will many people in this vast state who do not see the economic publi- 

 cations of the National Government. 



In this connection mention should also be made of Mr. Shiras' able 

 publication on the ' Necessity for, and Constitutionality of the Migratory 

 Bird Law.' ^ The whole subject is thoroughly discussed and attacks upon 

 the law ably answered. Mr. Shiras was the author of the original bills 

 that were presented to Congress and is therefore particularly well quali- 

 fied to discuss tl>e subject. — W. S. 



Further Observations by Collinge on the Dispersal of Weed Seeds 

 by Birds. — Prof. W. E. Collinge has continued his studies of the viability 

 of weed seeds after passing through the alimentary canals of birds. The 

 general results given in the present brief report ^ agree with those previously 

 announced, namely, that a surprisingly large number of seeds do pass 

 through the alimentary tracts of seed-eating birds in condition to germinate. 



The special point made in the present paper, and a novel one it is, is 

 succinctly stated in the following quotation: "it would appear that, in 

 dry years, such birds as the rook, starling, house sparrow (and probably 

 many other species) take in a much smaller quantity of grit 'and soil 

 than in wet years, in consequence of which a larger percentage of weed 

 seeds pass through the intestinal canal in an uninjured condition." — W. 

 L. M. 



Herman on Useful and Harmful Birds. — It is a proof of the great 

 demand in European countries for a book on economic ornithology, as well 

 as a tribute to Dr. Otto Herman, that his work (originally in Hungarian) 

 has been translated into both German ^ and English.^ The artist M. 

 Titus Csorgey shares the honors as his spirited drawings illustrate all of 

 the editions. Both of the translations contain additional figures and the 

 text has in greater or less degree been adapted to local conditions. The 

 EngUsh edition especially has thus been augmented, and properly is pub- 

 hshed as a collaborated work: authors, Otto Herman and J. A. Owen. 

 While these books are fairly satisfactory manuals of European economic 

 ornithology, they lack the definiteness and scientific detail that charac- 

 terize American pubhcations of a similar nature. This is merely a matter 

 of style, however, as the basis of all of these books is the investigations of 

 the Royal Hungarian Central Bureau of Ornithology which have included 

 the examination of thousands of bird stomachs. — W. L. M. 



> Necessity for and Constitutionality of the Act of Congress Protecting Migra- 

 tory Birds. By George Shiras, 3d, pp. 1-99. 



2 Journ. Economic Biol. IX, No. 2, June, 1914, pp. 69-71. 



» Nutzen and Schaden der Vogel. Gera. 1903, 333 pp. 95 pis. 



* Birds useful and birds harmful. Manchester, 1909, 387 pp., 98 pis. 



