84 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Material in Preparation for Publication. 

 The fourth edition of "Useful Birds and their Protection" 

 was exhausted in 1919, and as the law under which it formerly 

 was reissued was repealed when the Department of Agriculture 

 was reorganized, further editions cannot be published without 

 legislation for that specific purpose, although the demand for 

 the work still continues. To fill this demand in part and to 

 answer many questions of correspondents regarding the utility 

 of birds, material has been collected during the past year for 

 a bulletin on this subject. Material also has been gathered 

 for a preliminary list of the birds of Massachusetts, with an- 

 notations, which, if published, will be the first paper from this 

 office to deal with the distribution of the birds of this Com- 

 monwealth. In November, Dr. John B. May, who was tem- 

 porarily employed as assistant in this office, prepared an index 

 of the twelve reports of the State Ornithologist. Mr, Arthur 

 J. Parker has prepared a list of officers and officials of Massa- 

 chusetts organizations interested in the study or protection of 

 birds. 



Matters regarding International Bird Protection in 



America. 



There are few laws for the protection of birds in the Latin- 

 American republics. It would be quite possible for the people 

 of any one South American country to exterminate certain 

 species of North American birds that pass through their 

 country or winter there, and it seems imperative that some- 

 thing should be done to protect all such birds in those coun- 

 tries as soon as may be. 



In 1919 the writer was named as a member of a committee 

 appointed by the National Association of Conservation Com- 

 missioners. It was made the duty of this committee to bring 

 influence to bear for the promotion of conventions with Cen- 

 tral American and South American countries under which 

 migratory birds might receive such protection in those coun- 

 tries as now is afforded them in the United States and Canada 

 under the treaty of 1916 between the United States and Great 

 Britain. On December 8, 1919, a letter was received by th? 



