DANGER OF INTRODUCING NOXIOUS ANIMALS AND BIRDS. 107 



• 



the Pliilippines is mucli richer. The mammals are comparativelj' 

 unknown, and until recently were supposed to be poorly represented, 

 but at i:)resent the list includes some 50 species, of which about half 

 are bats. The l)ii-ds have received much more attention, and nearly 

 600 species have been recorded from the archipelago,' 280 occurring 

 on Luzon alone. 



All of the ishiuds have probably suffered more or less from the 

 introduction of noxious species, especially rats and mice. In Hawaii 

 rats have done so much damage that the sugar planters have imported 

 the mongoose to destroy them, and this animal is now becoming a 

 pest. The mina of India is also present in considerable numbers, and 

 the house fmcli {Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis) has been intro- 

 duced, notwithstanding the fact that it is usually considered a great 

 pest by fruit growei-s in California. 



During the last fifty years a number of acclimatization societies 

 have been organized for the purpose of introducing animals and plants 

 from foreign countries. Private individuals, too, have devoted both 

 time and money to importing birds or mammals which they consider 

 necessary or desirable additions to the native fauna. Four or five 

 societies exist in New Zealand, and several have been formed in the 

 United States. During the years 1872-1874 the Acclimatization Soci- 

 ety of Cincinnati, Ohio, expended about 19,000 in the purchase and 

 importation of EurojDean birds, and introduced some 4,000, belonging 

 to about 20 species, at an average cost of about $4.50 a pair. These 

 included several birds of doubtful value, such as the starling, skylark, 

 and great titmouse or kohlmeise.'^ This experiment j:) roved a failure. 



In 1888 the Society for the Introduction of European Song Birds was 

 organized at Portland, Oregon, and imported two lots of birds in 1889 

 and 1892, at a cost of about $2,000. Among the number were 50 j)airs 

 of skjdarks, 35 pairs of black thrushes, 35 pairs of starlings, 15 pairs 

 of green linnets, and a number of others, rej)resenting in all some 20 

 species. Recently the introduction of the kohlmeise into the North- 

 west has been seriously considered, and the spasmodic attempts to 

 acclimatize the skylark and starling have been renewed. 



Whatever ma}^ be the difference of opinion concerning the desira- 

 bility of introducing exotic species, it will be generally admitted that 

 some restriction should be jilaced on the importation of birds and 

 mammals which may become injurious. Since it has been found 

 necessary to restrict immigration and to have laws preventing the 

 introduction of diseases dangerous to man or domesticated animals, 

 is it not also imj)ortant to prevent the introduction of any species 



' This number includes the species found on Palawan. Worcester and Bourns 

 class Palawan with Borneo on zoological grounds, giving for the Philippines proper 

 526 species; of these, 323 are confined to the group. (Proc. U. S. Nat. Museum, 

 XX, 1898, pp. 564, 575.) 



- Journ. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., IV, 1881, p. 342. 



