The Report of the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture for 1898 has come to hand. The excellent work done by this Institution is not confined to botanical subjects. "The Biological Survey is often called upon to determine the value of birds and animals to practical agriculture. It is in effect a court of appeal in which complaints are investigated concerning those species which are considered injurious to crops. A careful study is made of the food of useful and injurious birds and mammals, and thousands of stomachs of birds are examined in the laboratory. Two thousand three hundred and twenty-nine stomachs, mainly of Sparrows, Swallows, and Woodpeckers, were examined during the year. A report has been prepared on the native Cuckoos and Shrikes, and reports on Flycatchers and native Sparrows are in preparation. Several of the latter birds feed largely on weed-seed during the winter, and it is a matter of no little interest to determine how far they can aid the farmer in checking the increase of noxious weeds. The importance of this work is emphasized by the increasing demand made on the Department for information and publications on birds, in consequence of the recent widespread popular interest in ornithology."
There appears to be a considerable loss of avian life at Niagara Falls. The Rev. R. Ashington Bullen has contributed an interesting note on the subject to 'Science Gossip' for last December, from which we extract as follows:—"Through the kindness of Mr. David Boyle, Curator of the Archæological Museum, Toronto, Ontario, I have received the following list of birds which are washed over Niagara Falls. It has been compiled by Mr. Roderick Cameron, who has also added an account of how the birds are caught. The list, so far as I can ascertain, has never before been published:—Whistling Swans (Cygnus americana), Common Brent-geese (Bernicla brenta, Stephens), Canada Goose (B. canadensis, Boie), Mallard Ducks (Anas boschas, Linn.), Pintail Ducks (Dafila acuta, Jenyns), American Wigeon (Mareca americana, Stephens), American Green-winged Teal (Nettion carolinensis, Baird), and other varieties, American Eider-duck (Somateria spectabilis Leach), American Black-scoter or Sea-coot (Velionetta perspicillata, Kaup), American White Pelican (Pelecanus tachyrhynchus), Shoveller, or Spoonbill Duck (Spatula clypeata, Boie), Grey Duck, or Gadwall (Chaulelasmus streperus, Gray), Black Dusky-duck (Anas obscura, Gmelin), Wood-duck (Aix sponsa, Boie), Canvas-back Duck (Aythya vallisneria, Bonaparte), Red-head Duck (A. americana, Bonaparte), Blue-billed Duck, or Scaup (Fulix marila, Baird), Whistle-wing Duck (Bucephala americana, Baird), Golden-eye Duck (B. islandica, Baird), Buffle head or Butter-ball Duck (B. albeola, Baird), Eider or Spectacled Duck (Somateria spectabilis, Leach), Scoter or Surf Duck (Oidemia americana, Swainson),
