160 TEE ZOOLOGIST. 



EDITOBIAL GLEANINGS. 



During the calendar year (1904) 330 mammals and 271,342 birds 

 were imported into the United States under permit. Among the mam- 

 mals were 11 Beaver from Canada, and 106 Squirrels from Europe. 

 Of the birds, 232,617 were Canaries, 942 Pheasants, 3568 Quail, 1043 

 other game birds, and 33,172 miscellaneous species. Among the 

 last-mentioned species were several from India seldom brought to the 

 United States, a Horned Screamer and several other rare species from 

 South America, and a Somali Ostrich (Struthio molydophanes), the 

 first ever brought to that country. Two shipments of fifty Madagascar 

 Weavers (Foudia madagascariensis) are also of interest, as they belong 

 to a species which might become injurious should it once gain a foot- 

 hold in the country. 



Several entries, both of eggs and birds, show the progress of efforts 

 to stock covers with foreign game birds, chiefly Pheasants, Partridges, 

 Quail, Capercailzie, and Black Grouse. The total number of eggs 

 imported was 2858, of which about 660 were those of Partridges, and 

 the remainder those of Pheasants. Among the consignments of game 

 birds was one containing 192 Hungarian Partridges, destined for 

 South Carolina. In spite of repeated attempts, the introduction of 

 the European Partridge into the United States has not yet been satis- 

 factorily accomplished, and experiments with eggs are not more 

 successful than with birds, less than fifty per cent, of those imported 

 in 1904 having hatched. The importation of Chinese Quail for market 

 purposes in California was practically stopped early in the year by the 

 enforcement of a provision in the State law prohibiting the sale of 

 these birds. Two shipments of Mexican Quail — one for California, 

 the other for Bowling Green, Kentucky — also deserve mention. By 

 far the most interesting game birds imported, however, were about 

 100 Capercailzie and 25 Black Grouse. These birds were liberated on 

 Grand Island, Michigan, which a private corporation is converting 

 into an important game-preserve. This experiment marks a notable 

 step in the introduction of the Capercailzie into America, and its 

 result will be watched with even greater interest than that made by the 

 Fish and Game Commission of Ontario in 1903. — T. S. Palmer ('Year- 

 book; Dept. Agricult. 1904, U.S.A.), p. 609. 



