On Sat, 7 Jul 2001 11:12:50 EDT MarkJtn at aol.com writes:
> Jim, I agree with most of the points you make regarding the two
> incidences I described. Certainly, a sample of 2 is clearly too small
to provide
> onclusive proof of cause and effect that fireworks in urban
> settings are a significant cause of bird mortality.

I seem to remember an old movie (based on an actual event) that
was set in China were they decided that the birds may be eating the grain
crops so a decree was sent out that all of the people should bang pots
and pans and set off firecrackers to keep the birds in flight until they
fell from the air from exhaustion. I believe what actually happened
afterward was a famine caused by unchecked insects devouring the crops.
Anyone else remember a movie like this that was released in the late
fifties or early sixties?

Wilson Cady
gorgebirds at juno.com