40 



many chickens. The bird is often followed by the blackbirds, 

 which may indicate that their nests have been robbed by it. 

 All along the southeastern shore of Massachusetts from Dart- 

 mouth to Plymouth this bird is recognized as a chicken thief. 

 It will glide into the barnyard, seize a young chicken and bear 

 it away to a tree in the woods or low spot of ground, where 

 nothing will remain to tell the tale but the scattered feathers. 

 Well knowing the value of the marsh hawk as a mouser, I was 

 for some years loath to believe the stories told by farmers and 

 poultrymen of its ravages in the poultry yard; but during the 

 past two years I have seen these birds strike and carry off 

 chickens both in the yard and in the open. Having lost about 

 forty chickens, the shot gun was brought into requisition, and 

 but two more were lost that season. The marsh hawk could 

 not kill chickens when half grown, as the birds were then strong 

 enough to escape; but small chickens are not safe from this bird 

 in our vicinity unless they can be kept shut up. These birds 

 beat over the meadows and sweep over patches of woodland, 

 snatching young birds from their nests and flying away pursued 

 by the screaming parents. There is little doubt, however, that 

 this hawk, so long as it confines itself to its usual habitat in the 

 fields and meadows, is among the most useful of our native 

 birds, for there its prey consists largely of field mice and other 

 small mammals which are believed to be mainly injurious. 



The only snake that has been seen to kill birds in this locality 

 is the black snake, and as these reptiles are not very common, 

 their depredations are not very serious. This snake devours 

 the young ground-breeding birds, and probably the eggs also. 

 It often climbs bushes and trees, and, coiling itself around the 

 nests of robins, thrashers or catbirds, devours the young in the 

 most deliberate fashion, the old birds in the mean time fluttering 

 about in distress, or doing battle with the enemy as best they 

 may. Occasionally in the summer the birds may be seen 

 crowding to a certain tree or thicket and uttering cries of dis- 

 tress. This is always the signal for some one to go to their 

 relief, and nearly always a cat or a snake is found to be the 

 cause of the trouble. These snakes often catch fully fledged 

 young, when, or soon after, they leave the nest. 



Skunks are so useful in killing insects that the comparatively 



