34 



THE OOLOGIST. 



the coast line iu their migrations a 

 severe storm may drive them from their 

 course and far out over the water so 

 that they are unable to return to the 

 land and perish by thousands in the 

 depths. This too occurs on the Great 

 Lakes, where great numbers of biri^^s 

 loose their lives by being over-whelmed 

 by the storms. 



In the Spring, an early warm wave 

 will awaken the insect life and attract 

 northward multitudes of birds. A sud- 

 den fall in the temperature will destroy 

 the supply of food and the birds, weak- 

 ened by loss of food, chilled by the cold 

 winds and rains, and without the pro- 

 tection of the foliage, will perish in 

 great numbers. 



The birds which feed upon the fish 

 that frequent the shallow waters of the 

 shores of the Great Lakes or the Ocean, 

 often perish on account of the storms 

 driving the fish upon which they prey 

 to deeper waters where the birds are 

 unable to reach them. 



The following incidents illusti'ate the 

 peculiar manner' in which birds may 

 meet their death. A young Bobolink 

 lit upon the back of a turtle thinking 

 possibly it was a stone, and was caught 

 by the turtle and would doubtlessly have 

 been killed except for the interference 

 of the observer. A Screech Owl in pur- 

 suit of a mouse had its foot caught be- 

 neath a batten on the side of a barn 

 and both were frozen to death. A 

 Sparrow Hawk, reconnoitering about a 

 weed bearing burrs, became entangled 

 in the prickly burrs and was unable to 

 escape. A Song Sparrow was found 

 dead a foot or so away, entrapped in a 

 similar manner. The observer liberated 

 the hawk before death resulted. A 

 Robin was found killed by a barb of a 

 wire fence. A Meadow-lark was found 

 killed in the same manner. A Wood- 

 cock Hew against an electric light in 

 Mt. Union, la., and was instantly killed. 

 A female Rose-breasted Grosbeak gor- 

 ged itself with certain seeds which be- 



came swollen -by the digestive juices- 

 and choked the bii'd to death. Fre- 

 quently birds are caught by strings or 

 horse hairs that they use in building 

 their nests, and are either strangled or, 

 being unable to escape, starve to death- 

 Several Ducks were killed by coming in 

 contact with some wires stretched a- 

 cross a street in Waverly, Iowa. Traps 

 set for animals quite frequently catch 

 birds, as in the instance of a Barred 

 Owl being caught by a trap set for a 

 wild-cat at Clinton, Ai'k. Ravens have 

 been knowu to attack sheep, their feet 

 being caught in the wool they were easi- 

 ly dispatched by the attendants. One 

 of most peculiar fatalities is that related 

 by Mr. L. W. Watkins, of Manchester, 

 Mich., of a Brown Pelican catching a 

 cat-fish, which erected its horny spinea 

 while in the pouch of the bird, with 

 the result that the bird could neither 

 swallow no reject the fish,and was slow- 

 ly starving to death with food in. its- 

 mouth. The foregoing incidents were 

 called from the Oologist during the 

 past few years. 



The operation of the various natural 

 causes keeps the birds in check and 

 maintains the balance of nature. These 

 losses, however they may excite our 

 sympathies, must be viewed philosophi- 

 cally as one of the wise provisions of 

 nature. It is to be remembered that, 

 although the proportion of birds slain 

 by man may be small compared to those 

 cut off by tiiese natural causes, yet those 

 he destroys ai-e in addition to those 

 cut off at nature's demand, and this 

 artificial destruction disturbs the bal- 

 ance of life, and tends to the extinction 

 of the birds. Among the worst ene- 

 mies of our birds are the "plume hunt- 

 ers" and milliners. It is a cruel fashion 

 that requires thousands of our most 

 beautiful birds to be butchered in order 

 that persons may adorn themselves with 

 the scalps of the murdered songsters. 

 These bird highwayman work most 

 assiduously during the breeding season. 



