Economic Ornithology

Abstract

ALTHOUGH we in Great Britain are only just beginning to realise the importance of avian economics, other countries have long been cognisant of the important part played by wild birds, and none more so than the United States of America. Since 1885, when investigations were commenced under the aegis of the Government, there has been a long series of distinguished investigators whose work has been published in upwards of two hundred memoirs. Valuable as these works are to all engaged on similar researches in this particular branch of science, they are scarcely the literature desired or to be understood by a large body of the general public who are anxious to learn something of the economic status of the wild bird fauna. It is therefore most fitting that the results of these invaluable suggestions should be summarised, and a resume provided for those generally interested, for such cannot fail to bring home to a wide circle of readers the extent and national value of this long and brilliant series of investigations.

The Practical Value of Birds.

By Prof. Junius Henderson. Pp. xii + 342. (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1927.) 10s. 6d. net.