488 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



ger to birds as is the dormouse of Europe. Shrews are 

 notorious flesh-eaters, and possibly may be very destructive 

 to ground-nesting birds ; while field-mice, when pushed 

 for food, are among the most destructive rodents known. 

 These creatures probably feed mainly at night ; their habits 

 are not well known. They can be held in check by natural 

 means only, hence we must beware of destroying the animals 

 that feed on them. Acknowledging, as we must, that under 

 natural conditions the natural enemies of birds are useful, 

 there is no doubt that under the artificial conditions pro- 

 duced by man some of them may at times need artificial 

 check. Under natural conditions, the crow is certainly a 

 valuable force in nature ; but when we have destroyed the 

 raccoons, the larger hawks, owls and eagles, — the only 

 creatures besides man, perhaps, which serve to hold the 

 crow in check, — then we must also check the increase of 

 the crow, or, wanting sufiicient food, it will become very 

 destructive to grain, fruit, fowls and smaller birds. In like 

 manner we have destroyed the wolves, which formerly kept 

 the fox in check; we must, then, check the fox, lest it, in- 

 creasing, attack our fowls and the game and insectivorous 

 birds. For this reason, it is well that the fox and crow are 

 not protected by law. 



Partly because of the fact that the natural enemies of 

 birds may sometimes need an artificial check, and partly be- 

 cause the injurj^ done by them is often much magnified, it 

 seems best to publish some evidence of their comparative 

 harmfulness, under the conditions now prevailing in this 

 Commonwealth . 



The natural enemies of birds, noted as harmful by the 

 observers who have contributed to this portion of the report, 

 may be arranged in the following order, with reference to 

 the number reporting each : cats, eighty-two reports ; foxes, 

 fifty-eight ; crows, fifty-four ; English sparrows, thirty-nine ; 

 hawks, thirty-four ; jays, twenty-six ; owls, twenty-two ; 

 the elements, twenty-one ; * weasels, seventeen ; skunks, six ; 

 snakes, three ; pheasants, three ; minks, three ; orioles, 

 three ; chipmunks, two ; raccoons, one. 



* This subject was quite fully treated in my last special report, and will not be 

 further noticed here. 



