74 Problems of Bird Life [THIRD WEEK 



other birds seems scarcely possible, although it sometimes 

 does occur. When a covey of quail is flushed, occasion- 

 ally two birds will collide, at times meeting with such 

 force that both are stunned. Flycatchers darting at the 

 same insect will now and then come together, but not 

 hard enough to injure either bird. 



Even the smallest and most wonderful of all flyers, 

 the hummingbird, may come to grief in accidental ways. 

 I have seen one entangled in a burdock burr, its tiny 

 feathers fast locked into the countless hooks, and again 

 I have found the body of one of these little birds with 

 its bill fastened in a spiral tendril of a grapevine, 

 trapped in some unknown way. 



Young phcebes sometimes become entangled in the 

 horsehairs which are used in the lining of their nest. When 

 they are old enough to fly and attempt to leave, they are 

 held prisoners or left dangling from the nest. When mink 

 traps are set in the snow in winter, owls frequently fall 

 victims, mice being scarce and the bait tempting. 



Lighthouses are perhaps the cause of more accidents 

 to birds than are any of the other obstacles which they 

 encounter on their nocturnal migrations north and south. 

 Many hundreds of birds are sometimes found dead at the 

 base of these structures. The sudden bright glare is so 

 confusing and blinding, as they shoot from the intense 

 darkness into its circle of radiance, that they are com- 

 pletely bewildered and dash headlong against the thick 

 panes of glass. Telegraph wires are another menace to 

 low-flying birds, especially those which, like quail and 

 woodcock, enjoy a whirlwind flight, and attain great speed 



