1 64 BIRD WORLD. 



ones carried off by cats when they were too young to 

 fly far, but too eager to see the world to stay any 

 longer in the nest. 



Another little animal whom you like very much is 

 no friend of the birds. The little Red Squirrel, who 

 runs up the tree so nimbly, scolding, and shaking his 

 tail, and stopping to nibble a nut, eats something 

 besides nuts if he gets a chance. I once saw two 

 Robins who were very much excited. They scolded 

 and flew wildly about, dashing now and then to their 

 nest, which I could see on the limb of a tree. Pres- 

 ently, as I watched the nest, I saw a squirrel lift his 

 head up only to duck it again, as the angry birds 

 made a dash at him. The rascal was evidently 

 squatting in the midst of the eggs, breaking them 

 open and feasting upon the contents. It must have 

 been a sad sight for the mother when he left the nest, 

 those eggshells, stained and broken, which she had 

 left so glossy and blue a few minutes before. 



Another ^^^ thief is a bird whose love for his own 

 eggs ought to teach him better, if they get as far as 

 love for one another in Bird World. In one of Mr. 

 Audubon's famous pictures he has drawn a saucy Blue 

 Jay, who has stuck his bill into an ^%g and holds it 

 up ready to fly off with it. This trick he has learned 

 with acorns and chestnuts. 



The enemy that the birds would fear most would 



