2^oofe Mt^^ anb lltetiiettjsl 



The Natural Enemies of Birds. By 

 Edward Howe Forbush, State Orni- 

 thologist. Massachusetts State Board of 

 Agriculture Economic Biology Bull. 

 No. 3. Boston, 1916. 58 pp., 7 pis. 



In these days when the evil concep- 

 tions of the English game-keeper are 

 spreading all too rapidly in our land, this 

 wholly sane and rational treatise should 

 receive the careful attention of all inter- 

 ested in the subject, especially all park 

 commissioners, game-breeders and others 

 who have it in their power to affect the 

 numbers of the enemies of birds. Mr. 

 Forbush describes concisely both the 

 harm and the good done by hawks, owls, 

 crows, jays, skunks, weasels, snakes, and 

 many other creatures, taking up each in 

 turn. He brings sound, practical, utili- 

 tarian reasons to the defense of the same 

 position taken chiefly on esthetic grounds 

 by the present reviewer in his notice in 

 the last Bird-Lore of another recent 

 Massachusetts publication. The con- 

 clusions reached are "that (i) natural 

 enemies of birds are necessary and desira- 

 ble, as they tend to maintain within 

 proper bounds [and at a high standard of 

 fitness] the numbers of species on which 

 they prey; (2) organized attempts to 

 increase the numbers of birds over large 

 areas by destroying indiscriminately all 

 natural enemies are undesirable; (3) 

 under certain circumstances, enemies 

 which have been able to adapt themselves 

 to man and his works and have become 

 unduly numerous may require reduction 

 in numbers; (4) individuals of useful 

 species which may become particularly 

 destructive should be eliminated; (5) 

 .... bounty laws ... in most 

 cases are pernicious." Interesting exam- 

 ples are given of the complicated and deli- 

 cate balance naturally obtaining among 

 wild things. For instance, mice, when kept 

 at normal numbers, are useful as furnish- 

 ing food to creatures that would in their 

 absence prey more on birds, but mice 

 themselves have tremendous potential 



powers of destruction, so that, while mice 

 and their enemies are both enemies of 

 birds, the extermination of either would 

 be disastrous to agriculture. 



Mr. Forbush seems somewhat off the 

 track in certain statements concerning 

 snakes. In speaking of the Hog-nosed 

 Snake, "the so-called spreading adder or 

 blowing viper {Heteredon platirhinos)" 

 Ditmars says, "The food of this snake 

 seems limited to frogs and toads" ('The 

 Reptile Book,' page 382). The African 

 Egg-eating Snake uses for breaking egg- 

 shells the lower spines of a series of about 

 thirty vertebrae. These project into the 

 esophagus, not the stomach, and are, of 

 course, not true teeth, though tipped with 

 enamel. (Lydekker, 'The Royal Natural 

 History,' V, page 214). 



It is to be hoped that everyone prac- 

 tically interested in bird-protection will 

 study carefully the whole of this bulletin, 

 for "there is danger that we shall overdo 

 the destruction of so-called vermin and 

 thereby bring about serious conse- 

 quences." — -C. H. R. 



Food Plants to Attract Birds and 

 Protect Fruit. By Edward Howe 

 Forbush. Massachusetts State Board 

 of Agriculture Circular No. 49. June, 

 1916. 21 pp. 



Anyone who has the superintendence of 

 the planting of a park or a country place, 

 large or small, would do well to choose 

 shrubs, trees, and vines that are at once 

 ornamental and productive of fruits that 

 will attract birds; and anyone who grows 

 cherries and berries for human consump- 

 tion should know the established fact that 

 he can protect them from birds by having 

 nearby wild fruits, such as mulberries, 

 that the birds prefer. To help in the 

 selection of plants for both these purposes 

 is the object of this pamphlet. It is largely 

 a compilation, reprinting lists published in 

 Farmers' Bulletin No. 621 (by W. L. 

 McAtee of the Biological Survey), entitled 

 'How to Attract Birds in Northeastern 



(376) 



