PROBLEMS OF BIRD LIFE 



HE principal problems which birds, and 

 indeed all other creatures, have to 

 solve, have been well stated to be 

 Food, Safety, and Reproduction. In 

 regard to safety, or the art of escap- 

 ing danger, we are all familiar with 

 the ravages which hawks, owls, foxes, 

 and even red squirrels commit among 

 the lesser feathered creatures, but there 

 are other dangers which few of us sus- 

 pect. 



Of all creatures birds are perhaps 

 the most exempt from liability to accident, yet they not 

 infrequently lose their lives in most unexpected ways. 

 Once above trees and buildings, they have the whole 

 upper air free of every obstacle, and though their flight 

 sometimes equals the speed of a railroad train, they have 

 little to fear when well above the ground. Collision with 



