210 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF BIRDS. 



EDWAKD HOWE FORBUSH, WESTBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS. 



PREFATORY NOTES. 



This bulletin has been written to exhibit the utility of native 

 natural enemies of birds and to show the misfortunes that might 

 follow their extermination, as well as to set forth the conditions 

 under which they may need restraint, and to point out those 

 species that are believed to be most destructive. 



The present strong sentiment for bird protection, commend- 

 able as it is, has resulted in a war of extermination against 

 the enemies of birds that may, in time, defeat its own ends. 

 Bounties are paid on the heads of predatory creatures by in- 

 dividuals, towns, counties and States. Farmers, sportsmen, 

 gunners, game keepers, game commissioners and wardens join 

 with bird protectionists in destroying indiscriminately all 

 creatures that are believed to kill birds or destroy their eggs or 

 young, and the high and increasing prices now paid for furs 

 offer an incentive to the trapper to pursue the fur-bearing 

 animals as never before. It is true that some of the more 

 crafty birds and mammals, such as the fox, the Cooper's hawk 

 and the crow, may become too numerous and too destructive 

 to bird life under some conditions, and that certain natural 

 enemies of birds introduced by man from foreign countries, 

 such as the cat and the English sparrow, persecute birds ex- 

 cessively at times and in certain places, but the majority of 

 the larger and more destructive native enemies of birds always 

 are held in check by the gunner, the farmer and the trapper, 

 through motives of self-interest, and with the constant increase 

 in the numbers of game preserves and bird preserves there is 

 danger that we shall overdo the destruction of so-called ver- 

 min and thereby bring about serious consequences. 



