33 



neighborhood by the English sparrow. Most of the smaller 

 birds which had survived the attacks of their various enemies 

 failed to breed, for either the eggs or young were destroyed. 

 No doubt this state of things ought sooner to have been rem- 

 edied; but I desired first to study the influences which di- 

 minished the numbers of these useful creatures, so as to be quite 

 certain what means to take for their protection. 



My experience here during these two years, taken in 

 conjunction with the experience of the previous twenty-five 

 years, leads me to believe that the enemies of birds stand about 

 in the following order, as regards their importance: cats, 

 English sparrows, gunners and boys, crows, jays, hawks, 

 squirrels, snakes, skunks, foxes, weasels and other small mam- 

 mals. Owls, shrikes, and some other birds may be named also 

 as of varying importance according to circumstances. Dogs 

 eat eggs and kill some nestlings. In this classification of birds' 

 enemies I refer mainly to conditions prevailing in eastern 

 Massachusetts, which is a thickly settled region; in a less 

 thickly settled or more open country, a change in the relative 

 positions of birds' enemies might more nearly approximate 

 the facts. 



Properly speaking, man is the greatest enemy of the birds. 

 Cats, dogs and English sparrows have been both introduced 

 and fostered by him. Birds are killed by him for ornamental 

 purposes and for sport, instead of being given that consideration 

 and protection which is their due, and which man can readily 

 afford them. Cats are named first as bird enemies, because 

 they are exceedingly numerous in the vicinity of cities, towns 

 and villages, and because an adult cat, in good hunting grounds, 

 will probably destroy about fifty birds each season. I have 

 known a single cat to kill all the nestlings in six nests in one 

 day, with two of the old birds struck down while trying to 

 defend their young. 



No doubt this is exceptional; but few nests are secure from 

 these cruel marauders, except those which are inaccessible, 

 like many of the nests of the Baltimore oriole. Most farmers 

 keep too many cats. The country is infested with vagrant 

 cats. Hounds often "tree" them in the woods far from any 

 house, and their tracks may be seen in every newly fallen 



