46 THE CONDOR Vol. XIV However, this seemingly very moderate attack npon butterflies, surpasses in amount of execution all previous records of the destruc- tion of butterflies by birds in the United States combined. Whether they are too dry and dusty to be worth chasing or whether they are too active on the wing to be easily caught, or whether for some entirely different reason, the fact remains that butterflies are very little in demand with birds in the United States. Four records of birds eating butterflies are all that are afforded by the records of the examination of more than 40,000 stomachs in the Biological Survey, and one of these probably relates to the capture of a very recently emerged speci- men, or to one torn from the pupa before emer- gence, as it was accompanied in the stomach by a pupa of the same species. This was an gyreus gigyrus taken by a crow. The other rec- ords are Eudamus (sp.?) eaten b?, a yellow- billed cuckoo, and two pierid butterflies cap- tured by kingbirds. Hence the fact that five of the species studied by Mr. Bryant utilized an unpopular kind of food, and that one of them did this to a considerable extent, gives all the more weight to the observation, as proof of the rule that birds usually take advantage of the abundant food supply created by an insect out- break. On the whole Mr. BryanCs work is well done and his final conclusions are sound. In referring to Professor 1?. E. L. Beal's ac- count of the Say phoebe, however, he misin- terprets the statements there made. PrOfessor Beal says that moths and caterpillars, not bug- gerflies, forms ten percent of this bird's annual food. The case of the ash-throated flycatcher is similar. As the data given above shows, neither species was found by Professor Beal to take buglerflies. The opinion expressed on page 200 that it "will be shown birds have an important part to play in the destruction of the butterflies", is hardly borne out by the facts presented.--W. L. McATEE. USEFUL BIRDS OF SOUTH AuSTRALIAnOur Feathered Friends. Protected Native Birds. [By A. G. EDQUIST] (-?Journ. Dept. Agr. South Australia, xIv, no. 9, April 1911, pp. 848-855; no. 10, May 1911, pp. 936-938; no. 11, Jnne 1911, pp. 1038-1042; no. 12, July 1911, pp. 1136-1140). In the July-August number of THE CONDOR (xIn, no. 4, p. 142) the reviewer noticed the first of the articles above cited. Apparently the series is now finished. For a work pur- porting to set forth the economic value of birds, re?narkably little is said about the food. On the average less than two printed lines are devoted to a characterization of the food of each species, and for nine out of a total of nineteen species this statement amounts to no more than an assertion that the bird is insectivorous. Of course the reviewer understands that no spec- ialized work in economic ornithology has been undertaken in Australia, but those whom the author is seeking to impress with the value of certain South Australian birds, ha,/e a right to demand more explicit information regarding food habits. Especially justifiable is this de- mand, since the pages of the Emu, and other publications on Australian birds, contain nnmerous specific references to the food of birds, many of which relate to one or another of the nineteen species treated by our anthot. It is not unreasonable to expect that these references shonld be collected by Australians interested in bird protection; but nevertheless, we have several publications on the "useful birds" or the "insectivorous birds" of certain States, which contain very sparing references to bird food. A few instances from the papers now being discussed will illustrate this nnfortunate ten- dency. The author says of the spotted bower- bird (Chlamydodera maculaga): "Food; chiefly seeds and berries of native plants" (no. 11, p. 1038). Mr. F. B. Campbell Ford notes that in. Queensland this species feeds largely on white-cedar berries (Emu II, pt. 2, Oct. 1, 1902, p. 101),and Mr. A.J. North says: "It is very destructive in gardens, eating nearly every kind of cultivated fruit and berries, being especially fond of chilies, and the seeds of the introduced pepper plant (Schinus molle). In the stomachs of the specimens I have examined, I also fonnd portions of unripe tomatoes, grape skins and seeds, and whole raisins" (Special Catalog I, Australian Muserim, vol. I, part 2, 1902, p. 44). ' On another page (46) it is noted that the bird is fond of figs and grapes. Mr. Robert Hall adds that it is asserted by some observers that this bird is the greatest pest the orchardist has to contend against .... In Queensland they favor small fruits of a bright color, such as guavas, to the detriment of the grower" (The Useful Birds of Sonth- em Australia, 1907, p. 252). Our author's statement therefore is shown to be not only excessively brief and generalized but also inaccurate. Regarding the grey shrike-thrush (Collyri- ocichla harmonica) the author ungrammati- cally remarks "Its food is chiefly insectivor- ous, and often consists of caterpillars" (no. 10, p. 936). North says (1. c., p. 93) that it feeds on insects and their larvae, worms, snails, centi- pedes and small lizards. H.S. Dove specifies hairy caterpillars as part of its diet (Emu x, pt. 2, Oct. 1910, pp. 136-137), and Mr. D. Le Sonef, the genial ornithologist whom many of us have had the pleasure of meeting in the United States, states that they take the eggs of other birds and that one was seen to pick np a chestnut-bellied quail killed by a hunter (Emu
