CHAPTER II 



THE DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS BY THE ELEMENTS 

 AND BY DISEASE 



BIRDS seldom tell us of their troubles. To be 

 sure, when their homes are in danger, or when 

 their little ones are killed or carried off, some 

 parent birds let us know by their frantic cries, 

 how real and bitter is their grief. And of course 

 hungry nestlings often clamor for food. But 

 usually, full-grown birds, like thoroughbred 

 people, take their troubles, their dangers, and 

 even death itself, with quiet courage and without 

 any fuss. If they didn't I'm afraid their sym- 

 pathetic human neighbors would get little rest, 

 for they are beset by so many dangers and face 

 death in so many forms that I sometimes wonder 

 how any of them manage to escape. Of these 

 dangers, the elements are among the worst and 

 least controlable. Storms often kill thousands 

 of birds in a few hours. The small birds, which 

 during migration, cross large bodies of open 

 water, are perhaps the ones most likely to perish 



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