INTRODUCTION 13? 



notes. The paper includes, also, a "Biographical Sketch of 

 William Cushman Avery" by Miss Mary E. Avery.J 



UNPUBLISHED NOTES. 



In addition to the above published records I have been 

 enabled to draw freely on the manuscript notes made by 

 Lewis S. Golsan and F. W. McCormack during their many 

 years' residence at Autaugaville and Leighton, respectively^ 

 and upon the records of Ernest Gr. Holt, at Barachias. I have 

 examined also the mounted collection of birds made by 

 Mrs. Bessie R. Samuel, of Guntersville, and that of James K. 

 Glennon, at Point Clear, both of which contain a number of 

 specimens of much interest. 



A considerable amount of data has been supplied by the 

 migration reports on file in the Biological Survey. The most 

 important of these were sent by Edward W. Graves, from. 

 Sand Mountain, Jackson County (near Carpenter) ; W. F. 

 Ponder, from Smelley and Rendalia; Miss Carrie E. Park- 

 hurst, from Talladega; E. G. Holt, from Barachias; and L. S^ 

 Golsan, from Autaugaville.** 



Economic Value of Birds. 



Birds, by reason of their beauty of fomi and plumage and: 

 their attractive songs, have always appealed to man in an: 

 esthetic way. In recent years, as a result chiefly of scientific 

 investigation made of their food habits by the Biological Sur- 

 vey, most of them have been shown to be valuable as destroy- 

 ers of the insect pests of the farm and forest. 



Of the greatest interest, perhaps, to the southern farmer,^ 

 are the birds that destroy the cotton-boll weevil, in which 

 class are included 66 species. In summer the birds rendering 

 the best service as weevil destroyers are the orioles, swallows,. 



IMuseum Paper No. 4, Alabama Mus. Nat. Hist., pp. 1-142, University, Ala., 1921. 



**For tbe loan of specimens and the privilege of usins records based on the speci-- 

 mens and on personal field notes I am indebted to Dr. Eueene A. Smith, State Geologist; 

 Mr. Peter A. Brannon, of the Department of Archives and History ; Mrs. Bessie R. Sam- 

 uel, of Guntersville ; Mr. F. W. McCormack, of Leighton ; Mr. Lewis S. Golsan, of Pratt- 

 ville, and Mr. M. Mahorner, Jr., of Mobile. To the late John H. Wallace, Jr., formerly 

 State Game and Fish Commissioner, I am indebted for hearty co-operation in granting 

 necessary permits to collect specimens, and in other ways. In the identification of the 

 specimens collected I have been greatly assisted by Dr. Harry C. Oberholser, of the Bio- 

 logical Survey, he having identified a large share of the more difficult forms. 



