130 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 85 



cardinal 3, rose-breasted grosbeak i, black-headed grosbeak 3, scarlet 

 tanager ii, Blackburnian warbler 5, bay-breasted warbler 12, myrtle 

 warbler 16, magnolia warbler 16, Canadian warbler 13, Wilson's 

 warbler 10, hooded warbler i, and the robin 106. These birds cer- 

 tainly have the colors and arrangement of colors said to be warn- 

 ing in the case of other animals, but brought home in the instances 

 of these familiar and practically defenseless species, for none of 

 which can any degree of inedibility be assumed, and in the light 

 of the fact that all are eaten, some freely, some less so. in relation to 

 their numbers, the theory of warning coloration becomes a wraith 

 of the imagination so tenuous that one cannot understand why it ever 

 received serious consideration. 



Total number of identifications of birds, 3,555 ; percentage of 

 identifications among those of all vertebrates, 26.6870; percentage of 

 species in this class among those of all nearctic vertebrates, 16.0843. 



Other enemies. — Fishes are not recorded as serious enemies of 

 birds, but it is probable that sharks and some other highly predacious 

 forms take some toll of birds that rest on the surface of the ocean. 

 The goosefish is known to have eaten seven wild ducks at a meal and 

 to have attacked such large birds as geese and loons. In fresh-water, 

 bass have been observed to capture swallows. (Fins, feathers, and 

 fur, p. 8, Dec. 1921.) The bullfrog is the only one of our amphibians 

 known to eat birds, but records of its so doing are fairly numerous 

 and some of the birds taken are surprisingly large (e. g. woodcock). 



Among the snakes we find very serious enemies of birds, some of 

 the expert climbing species especially, making birds, their eggs and 

 young a considerable part of their diet. Most noteworthy in this 

 respect are the pilot snake and black snake. Other bird-eaters are the 

 garter, house, hog-nosed, king, and all of the Crotaline snakes. 



The larger predacious mammals are very fond of birds and must 

 be nmn])ered among their worst enemies. Such are the opossum, 

 wild cats, foxes, coyotes, raccoon, badger, and skunks. Smaller species 

 as the weasels and mink are no less destructive and even the highly 

 vegetarian squirrels never lose an opportunity to devour the eggs and 

 young of birds. The red or pine squirrels are universally acknowl- 

 edged to be among the most destructive foes of birds. The domestic 

 cat, large numbers of which lead a more or less feral life, possibly is 

 the most deadly single enemy of birds. 



Recently much evidence has been gathered showing that the lar\ae 

 of certain flesh flies (family Muscidae, sens, lat.) parasitize the nest- 

 lings of various birds, this activity resulting in the destruction of 



