Problems Confronting Beginners 237 



But a great epidemic like the one which has 

 recently caused such havoc among the waterfowl 

 of Utah, usually requires prompt and vigorous 

 action by the Government. At the outbreak 

 of any epidemic of disease among birds, the 

 person discovering it should at once notify the 

 Bureau of Animal Industry at Washington, 

 District of Columbia, and await instructions 

 from that Bureau. If, on investigation by the 

 Bureau, the epidemic threatens to be serious, 

 Congress will probably be asked to appropriate 

 a fund with which to carry on the work of 

 stamping out the disease. 



Natural Enemies 



On very large preserves devoted to the protec- 

 tion of birds and other wild life, a few natural 

 enemies may be an advantage. Most of them 

 eat a variety of food, and the birds which they 

 get will often be the weaklings those which are 

 not quite healthy, or which in one way or an- 

 other fail to come up to the standard. But on 

 a small place, especially one which it is designed 

 to make particularly attractive to birds, I should 

 say the fewer enemies there are the better. On 

 such a place, a fox, a pair of red squirrels, 

 a house cat, or a sharp-shinned hawk, will be 



