Part II.] NATURAL ENEMIES OF BIRDS. 239 



Dr. Judd records the killing of a young chicken by a logger- 

 head shrike which is credited to the " Florida Dispatch," ^ and 

 Mrs. B. R. Buffham of Roswell, New Mexico, saw a shrike, 

 probably of the same species, hang up a dead chicken seem- 

 ingly just out of the shell.^ 



Grackles or Crow Blackbirds {Quiscalus quiscvla quiscula 

 and Quiscalus quiscula cenev^). 



The purple grackle, which is resident here in summer, is 

 known to destroy the eggs and young of other birds at times, 

 and when in large flocks in autumn it devours corn in the 

 field. The destruction of the eggs and young of birds by it is 

 not considered very serious and it is not believed to be very 

 generally addicted to this habit. Professor F. E. L. Beal made 

 an examination of the stomachs of two thousand two hun- 

 dred and fifty-eight crow blackbirds obtained from twenty-six 

 States.^ Only thirty-seven stomachs contained any trace of 

 birds' eggs and only one the remains of a young bird, but we are 

 not told how many of the stomachs were taken during that 

 part of the year when eggs and callow birds are not obtainable. 

 He concludes that crow blackbirds are so useful that no general 

 war should be waged against them. They are not protected 

 by law now (1916) in Massachusetts. 



Blue Jay {Cyanocitta cristata cristata). 



The blue jay is, at times, even more destructive to the smaller 

 birds than is the crow. It has been known to attack and kill 

 adult birds, young chickens and young pheasants, and to eat 

 the eggs and young of most of the smaller birds. I will ven- 

 ture to say that every close observer who has watched the 

 jay long and carefully is familiar with its nest-robbing habits. 

 It is so sagacious and cunning that it is sure to establish itself 

 wherever shooting is prohibited, and there it increases apace, 

 to the detriment of small birds. Jays often become numerous 

 even in cities, and in recent years have learned to build their 

 nests about houses in very thickly settled communities, where 



1 Judd, Sylvester D.: Bull. No. 9, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. of Biol. Surv., Cuckoos and Shrikes. 

 1898, p. 21. 



2 Nature and Culture, January, 1911, p. 21. 



» Beal, F. E. L.: Crow Blackbirds and their Food, Yearbook, U. S. Dept. of Agr., 1894, p. 233. 



