UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
July 9,1912 
Mr. Alex V/etraore 
San Juan, Porto Rico 
Dear Mr. Wetmore: 
I am in receipt of your letter of June 29th together with 
your report for the month of June. This latter I have read with 
great pleasure, as it contains some very . interesting informa.tion. 
The report you made on Descheo Island I perused with the live- 
liest kind ofinterest, as it is precisely the informa.tion we de- 
sire to get and gives us all the necessary data for an attempt 
to have the Island set apart as a "bird reservation. 
I note what you say about the attacks o*' flycatchers on 
the Island bees. It will require the examination of the .stomachs 
you collected to definitely determine whether the birds were 
taking workers or whether, as seems to be the case with our con- 
tinental flycatchers, they exhibit a preference for drones and 
rarely disturb workers. 
The experiraent you made with the little Island owl, GymnasiO f 
was well thou^t of and very much to the point. It proves con- 
clusively that the owl^* you experimented with could not be induced 
to eat berries; and although this does not prove that other owls 
never eat berrie§ yet it is presun^tive evidence to that effect, 
and for the present at least we are entitled to class the owl 
as a non-coffeeberry eater. 
