BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



In the old home of the Pigeon they had be- 

 come extinct. 



The changing condition of the country, for 

 which man is responsible, is the cause of one of 

 the greatest needs for the protection of birds. 

 Bush, shrubs, clumps of bushes, long coarse 

 grass, weeds, brush heaps, hollow stumps, trees, 

 and old rail fences have been rapidly disappear- 

 ing, so that the birds have but little hiding 

 place. They are exposed to danger from their 

 old enemies, the wild things, and to danger 

 from man and the enemies he has brought 

 them, among which the domestic cat is the most 

 deadly. Not only are cats a serious menace 

 to full-grown birds, but those that nest on the 

 ground have no safety where cats exist in large 

 numbers, or where homeless cats are allowed 

 to roam. 



The clearing of the land and the existence of 

 the cat has had as much to do with the decrease 

 of Quail as have the most unscrupulous gun- 

 ners. Little Bob-White's nestlings have again 

 and again been devoured, the whole nestful at 

 a time, by that sly, watchful, green-eyed enemy 

 that creeps near on padded feet and springs 

 upon them unawares. 



[167] 



