THE ECONOMIC STATUS OF WILD BIRDS. 
3 
Thirdly, the rate of digestion of different kinds of food and in 
different species of birds is another important factor. 
Finally, it is all-important that we should have careful observations 
made in the field. 
If the collection of this information extends over the whole of 
the months of the year and for successive years, and the birds 
examined are received from many localities in a given district or 
series of districts, and provided that sufficient care is exercised in 
the identification of the food materials and their percentages, then 
I believe that it is possible to arrive at a fairly correct answer to the 
question " Is this or that particular species of bird beneficial, neutral, 
or injurious ? " 
With regard to these methods I should like to add a few comments. 
The examination of the food contents of the intestinal tract is 
frequently misleading if it covers only a portion of the year or any 
particular season, for there are species that would appear to be 
distinctly injurious if the verdict has to be pronounced upon the 
food consumed by them during the months of July, August, and 
September, but when the nature of the food for the remaining nine 
months of the year is also considered a very different result is obtained. 
Hitherto it has been the custom to examine the contents of the 
crop (where present) and stomach, but this is not enough, for in many 
species of birds weed seeds and other matter of an indigestible nature 
pass into the intestine and are not accounted for unless the whole 
of the intestinal tract is opened and the contents washed out and 
examined. 
In a like manner very valuable results are obtainable from a 
proper examination of the faeces. 
Respecting the rate of digestion, from what little we know by 
actual experimentation, it is fairly safe to conclude that the majority 
of birds consume daily a bulk of food equal to 3J-4 times the capacity 
of the stomach. 
Finally let me, as the result of many years' practical experience, 
utter a word of caution with regard to field observations. Over and 
over again have I seen, or read of, hasty conclusions formed, due to 
lack of experience or knowledge or imperfect observation. 
The question of the economic status of any particular species of 
bird may, at first sight, appear to be one of only secondary importance, 
and it is not until we realize the magnitude of the industries connected 
with the land and the fisheries that we appreciate how important 
all economic factors are that bear upon either or both of them. 
According to a recent authority the fishing industry in Great 
Britain employs upwards of 27,000 vessels, manned by more than 
90,000 seamen, who land annually nearly a million tons of fish, valued 
at some £10,000,000. Excepting that portion destined for curing, 
the whole of this huge mass of food has to be rapidly distributed over 
the country, and daily the process is repeated, so that in addition to 
the actual fishermen we have a small army of packers, coopers, 
