CHAPTER III 



THE DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS BY THEIR NATURAL 

 ENEMIES 



BY the natural enemies of birds is here meant 

 those wild creatures which naturally prey more 

 or less upon birds. These include wild cats, 

 wolves, foxes, bears, raccoons, weasels, mink, 

 skunks, wolverines, squirrels, rats, and opossums 

 among our mammals; shrikes, grackles, crows, 

 jays, certain owls and hawks, and occasionally 

 other species, among the birds; snapping turtles 

 and many snakes among the reptiles; bullfrogs 

 among the batrachians, and pike and possibly 

 other voracious species among the fishes. There 

 are others but these are the principal ones in this 

 country. Animals like cats, dogs, and pigs, 

 which have been domesticated by man, and 

 European starlings and sparrows, which have 

 been imported by him, are not, strictly speaking 

 natural enemies of our wild birds and will be 

 treated of elsewhere. 



Some of the bird enemies mentioned above do 



20 



