

Oo2i Recent Literature. Ljuly 



parks, as at New York, Boston, and San Francisco, or such localities as 

 Lake Worth, Fla., where certain areas are sanctuaries. So eager for 

 protection and appreciative are the ducks, that such refuges should be 

 made in all parts of the country. 



The book fairly bristles with admonitions to keep down vermin, which 

 is defined as "the natural enemies of game birds collectively." The term 

 is very indefinite therefore and must be interpreted according to the 

 prejudices of the gamekeeper concerned. Chapters are given on the 

 natural enemies, collectively, on winged vermin and ground and water 

 enemies. These categories include eagles, crows, hawks, gulls, owls, 

 English sparrows, magpies and jays, the fox. coyotes, minks, weasels, 

 raccoons, skunks, cats, rats, snakes, moles, turtles and fishes. The worst 

 are thought to be the crow, fox, mink, weasel, cats and rats. Carp are 

 mentioned as destroyers of duck food. 



Although vermin are given too much importance in the book, the author 

 himself evidently holds very reasonable views on the subject. It is only 

 to be feared that these are buried in such a mass of charges against vermin 

 that their effect will be lost. Mr. Huntington says: "The naturalists 

 are right no doubt in saying that many species of vermin are beneficial 

 and that they do not do as much harm as some gamekeepers imagine they 

 do. Laws, however, which prohibit the killing of game enemies should 

 not apply to game farms and preserves." It should be added, nor should 

 bird protection laws of any kind fail to provide for the relief of property 

 manifestly being damaged. The author well says that "it would be quite 

 as logical to say that the shepherd must not kill the wolves as it is to say 

 that the breeder of game must not control the enemies which kill his 

 game." The matter should, however, be the subject of sufficient super- 

 vision to prevent abuses. 



"The idea that it is not necessary or desirable to exterminate all vermin 

 seems to be gaining ground. ... A good rule to follow is to control the 

 natural enemies of game only when they appear to be doing serious damage. 

 A hawk trap recently has been invented in England which captures the 

 hawks alive. The hawks which do very little damage and which are 

 regarded as beneficial birds can be released." 



Methods of destroying various pests are given, the principal one recom- 

 mended for birds being use of a decoy owl and shooting from a blind. A 

 gamekeeper at Oak Park, 111., killed 2,410 crows in one season. 



Mr. Huntington says: "The reader will find the hawks discussed at 

 length in a bulletin issued by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, but in reading it he should remember that the conclusions stated 

 are founded largelv upon stomach examinations and that such evidence is 

 not always reliable"; and adds in a footnote: "The marsh hawk is classed 

 as a beneficial hawk by ornithologists but I shot one which had a quail in 

 its talons as it flew overhead." Here is the old, old mistake of allowing 

 an isolated individual observation to weigh heavily against a careful 

 -estimate formed after consideration of all the available information, to- 



