Dear Editor:
John D. Cox's article "Peregrine falcon returns from brink" (8/23) is based on the erroneous assumption that DDT use caused a decline in Peregrine falcon populations.
According to Dr. G. Gordon Edwards, an entomologist at San Jose State University, the peregrine falcon, bald eagle, brown pelican and other great birds were in decline prior to DDT use.
In 1913, Dr. William Hornaday, head of the New York Zoological Society, said that peregrines were undesirable and "deserve death, but are so rare that we need not take them into account." He urged any persons who found a peregrine nest to "shoot the parents and destroy the eggs or young."
Egg collectors liked peregrines, though. The 1969 book "Peregrine Falcon Populations" described 70 years of fanatic peregrine falcon egg collecting.
Scientific experiments never indicated any harm from DDT in the environment, either to the birds or to their nesting success.
Mr. Cox would do better to consult with long-time experts such as Dr. Edwards and Dr. Thomas Jukes about DDT, rather than accept myths propagated by the knee-jerk, anti-chemical crowd.
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