v "',,i.^ x | Recent Literatim 293 



tg articles from the leaders in this movement and dired appeal for the 

 pa i lation now before the state law The 



illustration! and diagram nd convincing 



Mr. E II. Porbush 1 in his fourth annual reporl ornithologist 



of Massachusetts, considers bird i", i English Sparrow traps and ')/<• 

 economic importance of certain pecit of oativebirds. Mot interesting 

 however i the account of the presence of a fli^l'' of Whitt the 



during parte <>f July and Augu I I our of the birds were shot and 

 three of the shooters v. ted. With increased protection in the 



south these visitation* should oon be of annual occurrence. V. 



Economic Ornithology in Recent Entomological Publications - 



ions of the gypsy moth in the United State birds 



been given a greater oi re of the blame for the continued 



■ I of the pest. The evidence thai has been broughl forward I 



ed by A. I sen! bulletin - on 'The Dispersion of the 



loth' and in summing up he concludes thai birds are practically 



jruili li 



Mr. Burgi aboul the same view of the experimental evidence 



thai birds may distribute moth eggs, as thai expressed by the re- 



viewer in the April, 1911, Auk (pp. 285 286). With regard to Collins' 

 experiment* on English Sparrows and pigeon he says: "These experiments 

 indicate the extreme improbability of either of these birds -• lecting g 

 moth eggs Cor food, and the chances of the insecl being disseminated in 

 tliis way appear very slight" (p. 13). With regard to Reiff's experimi 

 Mr. Burgi the "cdnclusione seem too sweeping : - the 



percentage of the eggs [thai had passed through the digestive ti 



of the birds] thai failed to hatch, and when the conditions under which 



the birds were fed is considered il is doubtful whether comparable resull 



would !>'■ secured under natural conditions" (p. My. 



The chances of the dispersion of the moth through the dropping of 



rpillars picked up and carried to a distance by birds are considered 



very remote. Of .-ill thi i modes of distribution by birds, the 



only one held at all probable is the carrying of twigs bearing egg clusters, 



by '•row.'-, hawks and other large birds, and the opinion is expressed thai 



although "this may happen in some cases . . . it would resull in local rather 



then long distance dispersion." The final conclusion is thai "the evidence 



is wholly inadequate to prove thai birds were responsible for distributing 



the gypsy moth to the Large area which was annually becoming infested" 



The chief means of the dispersion is the wind which carries aboul 



the young larvae. The latter are provided with aerostatic hairs. 



Wild birds receive much credil as enemies of locusts in the Philippines. 



'Fourth Vnnual Report <>r the State Ornithologist Bj Edward Howe Por- 

 bush Fifty-ninth Annual Rept, State Board of Agriculture. [Mass.] kh_' 

 pp i 32. 



Bull. 119, 1 9. Bureau of Entomology. 1913. 62 pp. 



