Jan., 1913 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
49 
year, as the conditions (harvest, seed-time 
ploughing, etc.) would vary considerably. 
"(2) That the district from which the birds 
to be investigated come should be extensive 
l)ut not too wide. If all were taken from a 
small area, local conditions would be too 
prominent ; whereas, if birds were obtained 
from the whole of Great Britain, the varia- 
tions in climate (and consequently in dates 
of seeding and harvest) would prevent a clear 
idea being obtained of the changes in the 
food materials that occurred from month to 
month. 
“(3) That field notes ought to be taken 
when the birds were killed, the following 
facts being mentioned: (a) name and ad- 
dress of sender, (b) date and time of day, 
(c) exact locality in which the bird was 
killed, (d) weather, on account of its influ- 
ence on insect life, (e) special notes, if the 
bird was doing any particular injury.” 
■A. distinct advance in method over previous 
work can be seen in the attempt to determine 
the food for the whole year by making col- 
lections of birds in the same, general locality 
each month of the year. Although birds 
were collected where found feeding, attention 
is given the character of the place where the 
bird was collected, thus emphasizing the 
availability of certain kinds of food. 
The food of the starling (Stunius vulgaris) 
and of the lark (Alauda arvensis) is given in 
detail. The final verdict as to the economic 
value of the starling is as follows : 
“(1) The starling is very beneficial during 
the late spring, summer and early autumn 
months, eating many harmful insects although 
a numher of beneficial ones are also de- 
stroyed. 
“(2) During the autumn, and to a less ex- 
tent in the spring, much harm is done by the 
consumption of seed corn (particularly 
wheat) ; many harmful insects, however, are 
also destroyed during this period. 
“(3) Owing to the fact of the bird’s autumn 
and spring migrations, the remedies suggest- 
ed are, either (i) to dress the seed corn witli 
something that renders it distasteful to birds ; 
or (ii), if suggestion (i) cannot be carried 
out successfully, to kill off the autumn mi- 
grants in large numbers.” 
The following conclusion is reached in re- 
gard to the lark : “On the whole the lark is 
beneficial; but, owing to the injuries done at 
certain times of the year, there is no reason 
why it should be specially protected, although 
its wholesale slaughter is to be deprecated.” 
A table showing the results of the stomach 
examination of various other birds, which 
were obtained in insufficient number “for an 
opinion to be expressed as to their utility,” is 
added. A “List of References” gives a num- 
ber of the important European publications 
on the food of birds. 
In this paper there appear several original 
ways of tabulating results. One table gives 
the number of birds collected each month and 
the exact locality in which they were collect- 
ed. A second table gives the date, time, place, 
locality, weather and sex, and tabulates the 
different kinds of food under the headings in- 
juries, benefits, and neutral. A third tahula- 
tion groups seeds, vegetation, etc., insects, etc., 
and miscellaneous food under these same 
headings giving the "times occurred” and 
"number occurred.” The material grouped in 
this way has been mounted on cardboard. To 
the student, but perhaps to a less extent to 
the farmer, this method presents vividly the 
economic aspect of each meal. As a method 
of preserving the material permanently, it has 
disadvantages as compared with the "vial” 
method. 
A fourth table presents data from the 
standpoint of the food articles. It gives the 
percentage of times each article of food has 
been taken by the birds examined. A de- 
scription of the food taken each month brings 
out clearly the change in food-habits from 
one part of the year to another and so em- 
phasizes the necessity of a study of the bird’s 
food the year through. 
Perhaps the greatest criticism that can be 
offered is that against the use of the numerical 
method. To say that five out of twenty birds, or 
25 per cent, ate carabid beetles hardly gives us 
a clear knowledge of the relation of this par- 
ticular diet to the whole food or the bird’s 
relative taste for carabid beetles. The per- 
centage-by-bulk method used by the U. S. 
Biological Survey comes nearer showing the 
relative importance of the food elements. The 
value of the numerical method as a guide to 
the actual destruction acomplished, however, 
is self evident. A combination of both meth- 
ods doubtless comes nearest the common aim 
— “interpretation of economic values.” — H. C. 
Bryant. 
Birds in Relation to a Grasshopper Out- 
break IN Calieornia. By Harold C. Bry- 
/\nt (Univ. Calif. Publ. Zook, xi, November 
1, 1912, pp. 1-20). 
In July, 1912, a plague of grasshoppers was 
reported from the vicinity of Los Banos, 
Merced County, California. The author visit- 
ed the locality and spent a week there in 
studying the possible bearing of the native 
bird-life upon the insects. The present pa- 
per is occupied with an account of the ob- 
served facts, together with some general re- 
marks upon the relation of birds to insect 
outbreaks. 
It was found that at least fourteen species 
