2o6 



Bird -Lore 



had traveled hundreds of miles without 

 seeing scarcely a living thing, then abruptly 

 entered a land of palms, flowers, and oranges 

 with its complement of numerous habitations 

 of men, animals, and birds. 



On first coming to California I was dis- 

 appointed in the number of birds seen. The 

 number of species of land-birds was far less 

 than in Ohio during summer and fall, because 

 of the scarcity of water. As late fall and 

 winter time came on, winter visitors appeared 

 in larger numbers and now we have more 

 than in Ohio during winter. — H. N. Hender 

 son, Whittier, Calif. 



Are Squirrels Bird-Enemies ? 



As I watched the birds drinking and 

 bathing at the bird-bath the other day, a 

 squirrel played in kittenish fashion with the 

 knotted end of a rope that hung from the 



THE RED SQUIRREL TAKES A DRINK AT 



THE BIRD-BATH 



Craig S. Thorns, Vermillion, S. D. 



limb of a tree to the ground. In a few mo- 

 ments he dropped the rope and zigzagged 

 intermittently, and with many prankish 

 poses, over to the bird-bath, where he is seen 

 in the illustration. The birds had hopped to 

 the ground or taken a winged jump to the 

 nearby fence as he appeared, but without 

 any signs of fear. Not an alarm-note was 

 uttered. 



Is this frisking little fellow the bird- 



enemy some think him to be? "The more 

 squirrels the fewer .birds," is a common 

 remark. 



I tried to recall, one by one, the depreda- 

 tions of squirrels that I positively knew about 

 during the twenty years that I had been a 

 lover of birds, and their fewness surprised 

 me. A few times I had seen Robins driving 

 a squirrel out of the tree which held their 

 nest, which seemed to be evidence against 

 the intruder. Only last summer, before my 

 very eyes, a red squirrel stole down the 

 opposite side of a tree and pounced upon a 

 Mourning Dove as she sat upon her nest. 

 She fluttered vigorously and got away, but 

 the rascal ate her eggs. A friend of mine was 

 sitting under a tree in his yard when some 

 very young, featherless birds fell to the 

 ground at his side. Upon investigation a red 

 squirrel was found in the tree-top throwing 

 young Orioles out of their nest. 



But these instances exhaust my list in an 

 experience of twenty years in a town where 

 red squirrels, which are thought to be the 

 most mischievous of all squirrels, and birds 

 have been associated in about ideal pro- 

 portions. 



Doubtless the word 'roguish' best char- 

 acterizes the squirrel. In the instances given, 

 the squirrel did not eat the young Orioles. 

 He is not much given to flesh-eating; throwing 

 them out of their nest was doubtless only a 

 playful prank. The squirrel did not want the 

 Mourning Dove that he caught. He does 

 not eat Doves, although eating the eggs 

 cannot be excused. And when the Robins 

 drove the squirrel out of their tree, he al- 

 lowed himself to be driven without protest. 

 He seemed just to have happened into the 

 tree without evil intent. 



Since this is all the evidence against the 

 squirrel that I can recall out of twenty years 

 of rather close observation of bird-life, I 

 cannot class the squirrel as a bird-enemy, and 

 could not do so if my evidence were multiplied 

 tenfold, for birds have a way of recouping 

 their losses. 



I have known a Robin, for example, when 

 molested by English Sparrows, to build three 

 nests in about as many weeks. The last one 

 succeeded, and she reared as many young 

 Robins as though success had attended her 



