BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 297 



prosecution in State tribunals. In 74 of these cases the accused were 

 convicted and fines aggregating $3,085 were imposed. One offender 

 was sentenced to 90 days in jail and another was paroled. 



IMPORTATION OF BIRDS AND MAMMALS. 



War conditions during the first half of the year exerted a marked 

 influence on the importation of birds from foreign countries. Al- 

 though the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, restrictions 

 on shipments were not removed until some months later, and even 

 at the close of the fiscal year normal conditions had not been re- 

 stored, so far as the trade in birds was concerned. Ordinarily the 

 number of permits issued for the port of New York exceeds that for 

 any other port, but this year, even including the permits for birds 

 from Central and South American countries, it amounted to less than 

 7 per cent of the total. Very few shipments were received from Eu- 

 rope although two or three lots of canaries arrived from Liverpool, 

 London, and Rotterdam, the Rotterdam consignment being the first 

 from Holland since the early days of the war. The parrot trade 

 with tropical American countries, which forms an important item 

 under normal conditions, has only recently begun to revive, as shown 

 by the receipt of two considerable consignments from Nicaragua and 

 Colombia. 



The number of permits issued during the year decreased about 

 10 per cent, from 300 in 1918 to 273 in 1919, and the number of in- 

 spections from 76 to 42. Many of the permits issued were for the 

 entry of foxes from Canada, the total number bein^ 335, as com- 

 pared with 391 in 1918. At Honolulu permits were issued for the 

 entry of 195 birds, including pheasants, and several miscellaneous 

 cage birds. So far as known, no prohibited species were entered dur- 

 ing the year. 



During the latter part of October and the early part of November, 

 reports were received to the effect that a contagious disease was prev- 

 alent on some of the fox farms on Prince Edward Island, and the 

 issue of permits for the entry of foxes was temporarily suspended 

 pending an investigation. Through the cordial cooperation of the 

 Canadian authorities, an examination of conditions promptly made 

 disclosed the fact that the malady was local and noncontagious. The 

 precaution had the effect of assuring importers that the Department 

 realized the importance of protecting their interests and effectually 

 guarding against the introduction of any contagious disease. 



The increase in the number of shipments received at San Fran- 

 cisco was marked and included not only birds from the Orient and 

 Australia, but also for the first time some direct from the island of 

 Java. For the first time in 20 years, the number of canaries imported 

 from the Orient nearly equaled the number received from European 

 ports. As was the case last year, the receipts of miscellaneous non- 

 game birds included a number of rare species, particularly from the 

 Orient and from Venezuela. Among the most interesting entries 

 were several shipments from Java, one of which included a number 

 of jay thrushes, reported as Gcirrulax pectoralis. The consignment 

 from Rotterdam, which arrived in April, contained in addition to 

 canaries and other song birds, 12 species of waterfowl and shore birds, 

 including a number of European green-winged ]teal, garganey or 

 151352'' 19 20 



