and destructive, they must be counted among the chief enemies of the native birds. They defoliate the trees while the birds have young in the nests. This This exposes the young birds to the rays of the summer sun and to the attacks of their natural enemies, with the result that very few birds can be reared in such localities. For the foregoing and other reasons the decrease in the number of useful birds has been very marked in some of the localities where their services are most needed. Suggestions for Experimental Work to determine the Practical Value of Birds as Moth Destroyers. Inasmuch as there are now large tracts of forest lands in the regions infested by the gypsy moth in which very little work for the suppression of the insect can be carried on, owing to the lack of sufficient means, it is suggested that at least two competent men be employed to take measures to attract and protect birds and increase their numbers on certain tracts. It is important also to know whether the titmice, nuthatches or creepers have learned to eat the eggs of the gypsy moth. Apparently they had not learned this during the years from 1895 to 1900, when their feeding habits were watched by the agents of the Board of Agriculture. Experiments should be made to attract birds to infested localities by means of food and nesting boxes. The work done by Baron Hans von Berlespch at Seebach has been so successful that European foresters are putting up thousands of his nesting boxes in the government forests. Three thousand boxes which were used at the experiment station at Seebach were nearly all occupied by birds. How to attract and assemble birds and to increase their numbers, in the face of the advance of a destructive and overwhelming pest, will be a serious problem, but we should leave no stone unturned to find means to stay devastating insects. These suggestions are offered for the consideration of the Board and the State Superintendent for the Suppression of the Gypsy and Brown-tail Moths. Suggestions for Legislation for the Protection of the Birds. The progressive decrease in the numbers of fresh-water wild fowl, shore birds and game birds necessitates the enactment and enforcement of laws prohibiting the pursuit or killing of these birds at all times of the year except the fall months. This should be the only legalized shooting season. The season should be made as nearly uniform as possible, otherwise the law will be difficult to enforce. A people who continue to retain on their statute books a law which allows bird shooting from July 15 to May 30 must expect a continued decrease of these valuable birds. Further provision should be made for reservations or bird refuges, and those species that are in greatest danger of extinction should be protected everywhere at all times. As Ornithologist of the State Board of Agriculture, the writer has persistently advocated the establishment of public reservations for the protection of birds and game. Such bird refuges as are maintained by the National Association of Audubon Societies and the Bureau of Biological Survey have demonstrated the feasibility of not only preventing the extermination of birds, but the possibility of greatly increasing their numbers. We may thus restore to the country such species as are not already too near extinction to admit of such restoration. Already Massachusetts has made some progress in this respect. Through the efforts of Mr. George H. Mackay, the town of Nantucket maintains a warden on the island of Muskeget during the summer of each year; thus one man has been instrumental in increasing the terns on the island by thousands. The State has taken the island of Penikese for a leper station, and Dr. Parker, the superintendent, protects the terns and other birds there with excellent results. The Commissioners on Fisheries and Game have control of a large tract of land on Martha's Vineyard for the protection of the pinnated grouse or heath hen and other birds. As a preliminary step to a campaign for the purpose of securing other State reservations, correspondence with the State, county and city park commissioners was opened, to ascertain on about how many acres of public land rules prohibiting shooting are enforced. Nearly all the park commissioners have responded to the inquiries made, and 52,234 acres of public land have been thus far reported on which all shooting is prohibited. This includes the lands controlled by the Metropolitan Park Commission, those of the Metropolitan Water Board, the mountain reservations of Greylock, Mt. Tom and Wachusett, all the land controlled by the Commissioners on Fisheries and Game, a new public preserve of about 5,000 acres, and the lands controlled by the 36 town and city park commissioners. There are in round numbers only about 8,400 acres of municipal parks, against 44,000 acres in charge of State, county or metropolitan commissioners. These statistics do not include the grounds of such public institutions as insane asylums, State farms or reform schools. There are between 50,000 and 75,000 acres. (estimated) held in private estates, where the land is posted and controlled and no shooting is allowed. Many of the park commissioners enforce bird protection on their lands. In some cases city officers control the land and stop all shooting. The Metropolitan Park Commissioners have officers under their own control. One of the most hopeful developments of the bird refuge idea is the formation of an association for the protection of birds and the propagation of birds, game and fish. This association has been organized, not for the purpose of securing a private game preserve for the use of its members alone, but for the purpose of establishing a State reservation on which all birds and game may be fully protected, and where experiments may be carried on in the methods of attracting birds and in the artificial propagation of game birds and wild fowl. Legislation is needed for the establishment of other preserves of this nature, both public and private. Birds that eat the Elm-leaf Beetle. The cedar wax-wing, cedar bird or cherry bird (Ampelis cedrorum) is now noted as the "bird that eats the elm-leaf beetle." Mrs. Mary Treat tells of a town in which the elms had been defoliated for several years by this beetle, but after |