408 



AMERICAN FOREvSTRY 



enriched by the addition of 

 the thousands, even mil- 

 lions of birds that are an- 

 nually killed by cats. 



In discussing the ene- 

 mies of birds, I have dwelt 

 at length on the domestic 

 cat because I believe that 

 it is by far the most im- 

 portant, most deadly of 

 them all. Our birds are 

 able and always will be 

 able to contend with their 

 natural enemies. The lynx, 

 the fox, the raccoon, the 

 mink, the weasel and the 

 skunk are rapidly disap- 

 pearing before the inroads 

 of the trapper and no- 

 where exist in sufficient 

 numbers to affect bird life 

 seriously. The bird-killing hawks and owls are nowhere 

 abundant. Crows, jays and squirrels do not levy a heavy 

 toll, though at times they are very destructive to eggs and 

 nestlings. All of these animals, however, have their 

 economic and aesthetic value which forbids their whole- 

 sale slaughter. If an individual red squirrel is seen 

 robbing a bird's nest, he should be shot, and if a crow 

 takes to visiting the robins' nests in the 

 orchard, he, too, should be killed, for it 

 is impossible to cure this carnivorous habit. 

 Opprobrium should not be heaped upon 

 the species as a whole, however, because 

 of the misdeeds of a few. 



Concerning the English or house spar- 

 row whose fondness for human habita- 

 tions, adaptability, and great reproductive 

 capacity have caused it to replace a large 

 percentage of the native birds about our 

 cities and villages, much might be said. It 

 is undoubtedly true that before we can 

 increase our native birds in such places it 

 will be necessary to reduce the number 

 of sparrows. It will never be possible, 

 however, to exterminate the house sparrow 

 although concerted effort has succeeded in 

 ridding a few localities, notably Meriden, 

 N. H., and Oberlin, Ohio, of them. But 

 county systems and wholesale slaughter are 

 seldom to be recommended because so many 

 other species are killed by mistake. It is 

 possible, however, by consistent trapping 

 and netting to reduce their numbers suffi- 

 ciently to make room for a great increase 

 in our native birds. The nesting bo.xes that 

 are now put up for bluebirds, martins, tree 

 swallows and woodpeckers will then be 

 used by these birds instead of being 

 usurped by the sparrow. The barn 

 swallows and eave swallows will return to 



I'.lvWARE, ROBIN! 



More birds are killed by cats than by all their other enemies put to- 

 gether. The stray unfed cat is the deadliest, but even the pampered 

 Persian springs upon them whenever opportunity offers. 



our barns, the goldfinches 

 and waxwings to the ma- 

 ples, the chipping and song 

 sparrows to the hedges, the 

 warblers and vireos to the 

 gardens and our lawns will 

 resound with the music of 

 native birds instead of the 

 chatter and broils of these 

 noisy interlopers. 



In addition to the traps 

 described in the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture 

 Farmers' Bulletin on "The 

 English Sparrow as a 

 Pest," the accompanying 

 photograph shows a net 

 that has been used very 

 successfully from August 

 until November when the 

 sparrows roost in the ivies 

 buildings. It is about twenty 

 cheese cloth. It is raised 



CAT TRACKS 



More abundant in the woods than 

 the tracks of any wild animals. 

 Cats should be locked up at 

 night and not allowed to hunt 

 in the woods and tields where 

 thev kill countless numbers of 

 birds. 



on the walls of many 



feet square, made of 



into place against the wall after the sparrows have 



gone to roost and when lowered it scrapes them off from 



their perches to the number of over a hundred at a 



sweep. Over 500 have been taken from a single roost 



in one evening. 



The starling, introduced into New York 

 City in 1891, is now likewise multiplying 

 and spreading nearly as rapidly as the spar- 

 row. While it is abundant only in the coun- 

 try adjacent to New York City, it has spread 

 to most of New England, New Jersey, East- 

 ern Pennsylvania and New York and the 

 advance guard even to Ohio, so that within 

 ten or fifteen years it will undoubtedly be 

 abundant all over the East. The economic 

 status of this bird is still somewhat un- 

 decided, although it is much more insec- 

 tivorous than the house sparrow. It is very 

 quarrelsome and, nesting in holes in trees, 

 it is rapidly driving out the blue birds, 

 flickers and other hole-nesting species. 



BIRD LIFE IN JULY 



July is a month of transition. Many 

 species of birds are still nesting while 

 some are already beginning to get ready 

 for their southward journeys. The wax- 

 wings and goldfinches are just beginning 

 to build their nests but the majority of 

 species have either completed their family 

 cares or are starting again on a second 

 brood. The swallows and the blackbirds 

 have gathered into flocks, the former con- 

 gregating on the wires especially along 

 lake shores and the latter assembling in 

 great concourses in the tops of the ever- 

 greens and in the marshes. 



