30 Wild Bird Guests 



well known, and there seems to be no good reason 

 to believe that they would spare any young wild 

 birds which they found unprotected. They are 

 excellent climbers, our native black rat being 

 almost the equal of a squirrel in this respect. 



Whether our wild mice and shrews are destruc- 

 tive to bird life or not is a question on which we 

 have little information. They are all more or less 

 carnivorous, and white-footed mice at least are 

 wonderful climbers, using their tails as well as 

 their clever little feet. The dormouse of Europe 

 is known to be destructive to birds, and it would 

 be rather strange if creatures so similar in other 

 habits were entirely guiltless of nest robbing. 



Much of what has been said about raccoons 

 may be said with equal truth about opossums. 

 While not among the principal enemies of birds, 

 it is safe to say that they destroy practically all 

 nests which they discover in their daily search 

 for food. 



Many birds prey more or less upon other birds, 

 but comparatively few seriously reduce the bird 

 population. 



Shrikes, especially northern shrikes in winter 

 are sometimes very destructive to small birds. 

 Some observers state that shrikes make a 

 specialty of killing European sparrows, and to 

 whatever extent they do this they are friends of 



