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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1270 



workers, whicli cotild not fail to be most help- 

 ful in their subsequent studies. 



Men of ability could often find opportunity 

 to take up cooperative work in connection 

 with government investigations and eventually 

 many of them would unquestionably join the 

 army of scientific men in the government 

 service, which is helping build up modern 

 agriculture and other forms of food produc- 

 tion and conservation, the public health and 

 other beneficial activities. 



The extent and variety of the zoological 

 problems being handled by the government 

 bureaus are well illustrated in the activities 

 of the Bureau of Fisheries of the Department 

 of Commerce and in the Bureaus of Animal 

 Industry, Entomology and Biological Survey 

 of the Department of Agriculture, represented 

 here to-day. 



The close relationship often existing be- 

 tween technical scientific investigations and 

 the practical application of the knowledge thus 

 obtained is well illustrated by the development 

 of the Bureau of Biological Survey. In its 

 early history the small organization which has 

 since become the present bureau, while taking 

 up certain problems concerning the economic 

 relations of birds, devoted much the larger 

 part of its attention to essentially technical 

 field and laboratory investigations of our na- 

 tive birds and mammals. As the investiga- 

 tions advanced new vistas were opened and 

 numerous practical problems demanded at- 

 tention. As a natural evolution the technical 

 work became the foundation of the practical 

 work directly for the public benefit. 



The facts developed from exact study of the 

 food of birds through microscopic examina- 

 tion of their stomach contents, with field ob- 

 servations on their numbers and distribution, 

 so conclusively demonstrated the value of 

 birds as insect destroyers that public opinion 

 has caused the passage of state laws for their 

 protection throughout the country. The latest 

 result has been a treaty between the United 

 States and Great Britain for the protection of 

 migratory birds in this country and Canada. 



The investigators of the food habits of birds 

 must have, in addition to a knowledge of 



birds, a good working knowledge of insects 

 and of plants. Studies of the food habits of 

 birds are constantly in progress and there is 

 always room for additional investigators in 

 this field. 



As the result of the field investigations of 

 the distribution and habits of birds and mam- 

 mals large series of specimens have been col- 

 lected and early in the work the fact devel- 

 oped that there existed a surprising lack of 

 technical knowledge concerning our bird and 

 mammal life. In consequence, a number of 

 investigators have been engaged for years in 

 the study of these and other recent collections, 

 and numerous monographs of groups of mam- 

 mals and shorter papers on birds have been 

 published. These studies have resulted in the 

 discovery of new genera and hundreds of 

 previously unknown species, especially of mam- 

 mals. The field is still a promising one, par- 

 ticularly as concerns the anatomy, osteology 

 and embryology, and the life histories of most 

 of the species. 



The Biological Survey is charged with the 

 administration of the federal laws for the 

 protection of birds, which entails investiga- 

 tions, both technical and non-technical, in 

 order to supply information covering a wide 

 range. Among other tasks it is our duty to 

 determine which species are beneficial and 

 which harmful, and to discover methods for 

 the control of the harmful species. 



In addition it is necessary to have definite 

 information concerning foreign birds and 

 mammals, since the law requires that control 

 shall be exercised over the importation of 

 birds and mammals of injurious habits in 

 order to prevent their becoming established 

 here. For example, the colonization of the 

 mongoose in this country would be a calamity 

 of far-reaching effect. At the same time the 

 importation of certain harmless and useful 

 species is encouraged. 



With the increased occupation and great ex- 

 tension of farming and stockgrowLng through- 

 out the country it has developed that certain 

 native mammals which exist in enormous 

 numbers have become excessively destructive 

 to the crop and meat output. Predatory ani- 



