256 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



ruffed grouse. Some localities, as, for instance, 

 Long Island, have been swept virtually clean of 

 these birds by the burning of their forests. 



Next in importance come the depredations by 

 birds of prey and vermin. Game-birds of the 

 open lands are specially susceptible to their at- 

 tacks. During the winter months, while snow 

 lies deep on the ground, all ground-birds are par- 

 ticularly liable to attack from the air. Their dark 

 bodies show up well against the white background 

 of snow, and they fall an easy prey to hawks. It 

 is believed that the shortage of ruffed grouse a few 

 years ago in the northeastern States was largely 

 the result of an influx of predatory birds, mainly 

 the great-horned owl and the goshawk, from the 

 North. These meat-eating birds were driven 

 south in search of food by a shortage of snow- 

 shoe rabbits in the North. 



Lynxes, coyotes, foxes, minks, and weasels take 

 a large toll of game-birds, although each one of 

 them prefers some other kind of flesh if it can be 

 easily obtained. Dogs, when permitted to roam 

 at will, kill many birds, especially the young un- 

 able to fly, and destroy large numbers of nests and 

 eggs. Domestic cats grown wild, however, prove 

 the greatest enemies of small birds, including the 

 quail. They annually kill and devour several 

 million valuable birds in the United States, and 

 probably are accountable for more damage to the 



