CAUSES FOE THE DECREASE OF SONG BIRDS 11 



hours. But the benefits rendered extend over the 

 whole season or year, and elude the observation of most 

 people. An owl may catch a thousand mice in a year, 

 and the farmer does not know that there is an owl 

 within a mile of his place, but let the owl catch a stray 

 pullet and he is at once sentenced to be shot without 

 investigation. 



The dog and the cat, on the other hand, are held in 

 much higher esteem than they deserve. In the city, 

 nine dogs out of every ten are a nuisance, and consti- 

 tute an element of danger to the inhabitants. 



In the country, at least every other dog lives on 

 bread he never earned and is nothing but a worthless 

 Ishmaelite, whose teeth and claws are against every 

 creature, from the moose in the forest to the mouse in 

 the meadow. 



CAUSES OF DECREASE IN BIRD LIFE AS GIVEN IN 

 W. T. HORN AD AY'S REPORT. 1 



Of the series of one hundred and ninety reports now 

 before us, about 80 per cent declare a decrease in bird 

 life and state the causes therefor. The list of destruc- 

 tive agencies now operating against our birds is a long 

 one, and it is interesting to note the number of oberv- 

 ers who complain of each. The figures given below 

 show the number of observers who have reported each 



1 This and other extracts from Mr. W. T. Hornaday's report on 

 "The Destruction of our Birds and Mammals" are taken from his 

 report as published by the New York Zoological Society with the per- 

 mission of the author. 



