INDEX TO PAPERS RELATING TO POOD OP BIRDS. 21 



ANNUAL REPORTS. 



Each of the Annual Reports of the Department of Agriculture 

 consists of the report of the Secretary of Agriculture together with 

 those of the chiefs of the various bureaus and divisions. Only the 

 reports of the Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey and of its 

 predecessor, the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, are of 

 interest in the present connection. The first report deals with eco- 

 nomic investigations carried on from July 1, 1885, to February 20, 

 1887, a period of more than one and a half years. All subsequent 

 reports cover approximately a period of one year. 



Up to and including the Keport for 1893, original articles corre- 

 sponding to those now published in the yearbook, and written by 

 various members of the division, accompanied the reports of the 

 chief. Seventeen of them appeared in the eight reports specified. 

 Beginning with that for 1894 the reports of the chief are of a more 

 routine character, containing the customary review of the year's 

 work, plans for the succeeding year, and recommendations. Fre- 

 quently, however, specific references to bird food are made and all of 

 these are indexed. The comment on each report in the following 

 bibliography gives an idea of the subjects more generally treated. 



1886 



Report of ornithologist and mammalogist. By C. Hart Merriam. 

 pp. 227-258. 2 figs. 1 colored map. 

 This first report includes a preliminary discussion of the economic relations 

 of the English sparrow, describes the depredations on rice of bobolinks and 

 red-winged and boat-tailed blackbirds, and refers casually to the food of several 

 other birds. 



1887. 



Report of the ornithologist and mammalogist. [By C. Hart Mer- 

 riam.] pp. 399-101. 

 Notes progress of the investigation of the English sparrow and considers 

 the feasibility of the use of trained hawks in keeping bobolinks out of rice 

 fields. 



Food of hawks and owls. By Dr. A. K. Fisher, pp. 402-422. 



Consists mainly of a tabulation of contents of 1,072 stomachs, representing 

 28 species of hawks and owls. 



Experiments in poisoning. By Dr. A. K. Fisher, pp. 423^426. 



States efficiency in poisoning English sparrows of various preparations of 

 strychnine, arsenic, and corrosive sublimate, in combination with wheat, meal, 

 and hempseed. 



Report on some of the results of a trip through parts of Minnesota 

 and Dakota. By Vernon Bailey [birds, pp. 428^31]. 

 Discusses the relations of blackbirds, cowbirds, and bobolinks to the grain 

 crops in this region. Notes on some other articles of diet are given for these 

 birds as well as for a few other species. 



