v " , 1 ,^ : . xx ] Recent Literature. 133 



due to the depredations of meadowlarks on the sprouting seed. It is 

 no wonder therefore that bills removing protection from the bird have been 

 introduced and strenuously supported in the State legislature. Mr. 

 Bryant's investigations justify the charges of injury to grain, but also show 

 that as a dest rover of cutworms and grasshoppers, the meadowlark is 

 probably unequalled by any other California bird. Thus the bird feeds 

 upon grain pests, and clearly does a great deal to offset the direct damage it 

 commits. Whether the bird fully pays for the grain it destroys, can only 

 be determined when the investigation is completed. 



The second paper deals with "The present and future status of the 

 California Valley Quail." ' While the whole paper may be considered eco- 

 nomic ornithology in a broad sense, it does not treat the food habits in a 

 detailed way. Mr. Bryant discusses chiefly the decrease of the bird due to 

 hunting, and methods of preserving it in normal numbers, including recom- 

 mendations on the amount of shooting that may be allowed. 



The reviewer finds himself unable to agree with Mr. Bryant's statement 

 that " Food supply is probably, in the last analysis, the most important 

 of the factors governing numbers under natural conditions," at least with 

 reference to species such as Quail which can if necessary live wholly upon 

 seeds and browse. It is admitted of course that the food supply would 

 Bel a definite limit did species increase up to the point of exhausting it, but 

 normally seed-eat ing birds as a whole seem to come nowhere near that point. 

 There are always tons upon tons of seeds left to decay after the require- 

 ments of all seed eaters, ami of reproduction of the plants themselves are 

 satisfied. Lack of versatility in foraging, or idiosyncrasies as to the time 

 or place of feeding, or as to the nature of the food, may at times tend to 

 check the increase of a species. In the East cases are recorded, and they 

 weie especially numerous about Washington last winter, in which snow- 

 bound Quail have started to death in sheltered places, when plenty of food 

 could be had for the searching. It is true that these deaths may have been 

 due solely to severe and unaccustomed cold, and if this is true, it opposes 

 the familiar argument thai abundance of food is sufficient protection against 

 freezing. 



In a third paper entitled " Birds in Relation to a Grasshopper Outbreak 

 in California," 2 Mr. Bryant says: "Certain sections of California are 

 annually troubled with grasshoppers, and there is seldom a year when they 

 do not cause considerable damage in some part of the State. . .Reports of 

 damage caused by grasshoppers in 1912 first began to appear in June. 

 The western part of Merced County, and parts of Kings and Kern Counties, 

 were most affected. The present investigation was largely carried on in the 

 vicinity of Los Banos, Merced County, this being one of the worst centers 

 of infestation." (p. 3) ..." Little damage could be noted where the 

 grasshoppers were less than fifteen to the square yard. Where damage was 



1 Condor, XIV.. July. 1912, pp. 131-142. 



• Univ. Calif. Piibl. /.<><>l . Vol. I t . No. t . No\ i . 1912. 



