132 Bibliographical Notices. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Economic Ornithology . 



1. Food Habits of the Grosbeaks. U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Bull. \il. Washington Government Printing Office. 1908. 



2. Birds that eat Scale- Insects. Reprint from Yearbook of 

 Department of Agriculture. 190G. 



In the matter of economic ornithology we in England are disgrace- 

 fully behind the times ; the Board of Agriculture seemingly prefers 

 to leave this matter to private enterprise, or to deal with the 

 matter in such a perfunctory manner as to be positively ridiculous, 

 making us the laughing-stock of the nations. 



On the Continent and in the United States things are different. 

 In the United States, indeed, for many years past, the study of birds 

 in their relation to man has been vigorously prosecuted, and splendid 

 results have rewarded this zeal. 



The two pamphlets now before us are most admirable examples 

 of their kind, and should be carefully studied by all who aro inter- 

 ested in this matter. 



The first on our list is by Mr. W. L. McAfee, an Assistant of the 

 Biological Survey, and it is a model of what such work should be. 



The Author surveys the food eaten by five species of grosbeaks, 

 representing the genera Cardinalis, Pyrrhuloxia, Zamelodia, and 

 Guiraca, and giving for each species a most exhaustive account of 

 the animal and vegetable constituents of the food, supplemented by 

 illustrations of all the more important plants and insects and 

 excellent figures of the birds themselves. 



It would be impossible in the space of a short review to give an 

 adequate account of the Author's conclusions, but suffice it to say 

 that he has shown beyond cavil that these birds, which have been 

 condemned now by the farmer and now by the fruit-grower — some 

 species showing at certain times of the year a fondness for fruit 

 and some for grain, — are, on the whole, unquestionably extremely 

 valuable birds, devouring immense quantities of the seeds of certain 

 noxious weeds. The five species studied consume nine times more 

 weed-seed than grain and fruit, and nineteen times more injurious 

 than useful insects. 



In his second paper on ' Birds that eat Scale-Insects ' the Author 

 fiist outlines the appalling damage done by these insects to orchards, 

 and then goes on to give a brief outline of the various species of 

 birds which prey more or less on these pests. No less than fifty- 

 seven species of birds have been found to eat scale-insects, and 

 nearly all are, as might be supposed, arboreal species. What 

 proportion these insects form of the total quantity of food eaten is a 

 matter which is yet under investigation, but it would seem that 

 some species eat large quantities thereof. 



