196 BIRDS' NESTS. 



The young birds disappeared from the black- 

 bird's nest one after the other, and that puss 

 was the culprit here there was little doubt, as 

 she was actually seen carrying away one in her 

 mouth. A brood of hedge-sparrows in a holly- 

 bush, on the lawn, were found with their heads 

 eaten off. This mischief was attributed to a 

 stoat, which had been often seen crossing the 

 lawn from the meadow, and running under the 

 very tree in which the nest was placed. These 

 little animals are supposed to be very destruc- 

 tive to birds which build their nests on or 

 near the ground, both by sucking the eggs 

 and killing the young. Indeed, when we 

 come to think on the matter, there must be a 

 very large number of birds annually killed by 

 wild animals and other causes, or they would 

 every year become more numerous. For, 

 supposing each pair of birds to lay only four 

 eggs, and to die in the following winter, 

 (which certainly is not generally the case,) the 

 number of birds belonging to any one sort 



