iSooft i^etDg anH l^ctJtetos 



Report of Chief of Bureau of Bio- 

 logical Survey for the Year End- 

 ing June 30, 1913. By Henry W. 

 Henshaw. From Annual Reports of 

 the Department of Agriculture for 1913. 

 14 pp. 



No one can read this summary of the 

 activities of the Biological Survey for the 

 period covered by this report without 

 being impressed by the scope and impor- 

 tance of its labors. The destruction of 

 prairie-dogs, ground-squirrels, and seed- 

 eating rodents in the National forests, the 

 economic status of the mole, fur-farming, 

 control of crawfish in the Mississippi, 

 destruction of the alfalfa weevil and cot- 

 ton-boll weevil by birds, the food of wild 

 fowl, and work in Porto Rico, are headings 

 which indicate some phases of the eco- 

 nomic investigations of the Survey. 



Forty-one species of birds have been 

 found feeding on the alfalfa weevil, chief 

 among the enemies of which is Brewer's 

 Blackbird. No less than 542 weevils were 

 taken from the stomach of a single bird 

 of this species. The boll-weevil is now 

 known to be preyed on by 50 species of 

 birds. 



An index has been made to the 131 

 publications relating to economic ornithol- 

 ogy which have been published by the 

 Survey, in which 401 species of native 

 and 59 species of foreign birds have been 

 reported on. 



Under 'Biological Investigations' refer- 

 ence is made to work in progress in Ala- 

 bama, Arizona, California, Idaho, and 

 North Dakota. Migration reports have 

 been secured from about 200 volunteer 

 observers, and acknowledgement made 

 of the service the reports of this kind 

 already on file were to the Survey in 

 formulating the regulations of the migra- 

 tory bird bill. 



Each year shows a slight increase in 

 the number of birds (chiefly Canaries) 

 imported into this country. In 1908 

 325,285 were imported, last year the num- 

 ber reached 392,422. 



The report shows that seven new na- 

 tional bird reservations, including the 

 Aleutian Islands, were set aside during 

 the year ending June 30, 1913, raising 

 the total number now existing to sixty- 

 three. Comments on the new reservations 

 and reports from some of the old ones 

 are given. 



The report concludes with an outline 

 of the Survey's increasingly important 

 work for game protection. — F. M. C. 



An Account of the Birds and Mammals 

 OF the San Jacinto Area of South- 

 ern California, with Remarks upon 

 the Behavior of Geographic Races on 

 the Margins of Their Habitats. By J. 

 Grinnell and H. S. Swarth. Univ. 

 of Cal. Pub. in Zool., Vol. 10, No. 10, 

 pp. 197-406, pis. 6-10, 3 text figs. 

 Oct. 31, 1913. 



This is an important contribution to 

 regional and philosophic zoology. The 

 authors are thoroughly equipped to handle 

 their problem in field and study and we 

 are becoming increasingly indebted to 

 them for the growing series of papers for 

 which independently, or together, they 

 are responsible. 



Following details of when, where, and 

 by whom the observations and collections 

 on which this paper is based were made, 

 are descriptions of the localities worked, 

 and this is succeeded by a discussion of 

 the 'Life Areas of the Region,' in which it 

 is shown that the ranges of species are 

 controlled by zonal, faunal, and associa- 

 tional factors. The term "Associations," 

 as here defined, is said to be 'allied 

 in meaning to the formations' of 

 some botanists." Associations are 

 classed as of major and minor rank. 

 Chaparral, for example, is of major 

 rank, chinquapin chaparral of minor 

 rank. Thus Stephens's Fox Sparrow is 

 said to belong "to the Chinquapin minor 

 association, of the Chaparral major asso- 

 ciation of the San Bernardino Faunal 

 division of the Transition zone," a some- 

 what sonorous formula which possibly 



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