- 5*7 ~ 



Observations were made on more than 800 specimens from 

 various parts of England. 



Percentage of the food of Rooks: 



Grain, 67.5 / , this by the inclusion of roots 



and fruits, is raised to 71 



Animal food 29 



The rook is not a particularly beneficial bird to the agriculturist,, 

 although its utility might be increased if the numbers were dimi- 

 nished. 



S. W. BIRCHLEY. British birds for Cages, Aviaries and Exhibi- 

 tion. --- (London, 1909. Vol. I, pp. XIV + 302, pis. 45 ; vol. II, 

 pp. VIII + 234, pi. 52). E. S. R., March 1910. 



Under the 72 species taken up descriptions are given of the 

 parent birds, attractive qualities, habitation, catching, steadying and 

 meting off, hand rearing, exhibition, food, nest and eggs, and 

 countryside notes. Accounts are also given of the common ailments, 

 their causes and cure, the moult, and the bird-room, and ot the 

 cages, avaries, and bird-room requisites. 



Ventilation of Poultry Houses. (four, of South- Eastern Agric* 

 Coll., No. 17. 1908); The fourn. of the Board of Agric., March. 

 1910. London, Vol. XVI, No. 12, p. 1029. 



" The ventilation of poultry houses is a matter of vital impor- 

 tance to poultry keepers, since overcrowding is known to impair 

 the vitality of the birds, to render them susceptible to numerous 

 diseases, including tuberculosis, diphtheritic roup, etc., and to di- 

 minish the number of eggs produced in winter ". 



" An investigation into these points was carried out by Dr. Rus- 

 sell, and measurements were made of the amount of air required 

 by poultry and the amount of impurity produced in poultry houses. 

 Preliminary inquiry showed that 40 cubic feet of air per hour might 

 be regarded as suitable air allowance for poultry, but this must be 

 supplied at a suitable rate to prevent draughts ". 



"Two houses were put up so arranged that each bird was 

 getting about 40 cubic feet per hour, but in one the air was 

 changed five times and in the other nine times per hour. The 

 number of eggs laid was taken as an index of the well-being of 

 the birds, which had been very carefully selected to secure equa- 



