MIDSUMMER SONGSTERS. 8/ 



die a natural death. What with hawks 

 and snakes and the perils inseparably 

 connected with their migrations, not to 

 speak of the small boy with his murderous 

 gun, they pass indeed a precarious and 

 uncertain existence. Then, as we all 

 know, the domestic cat is responsible for 

 only too large a share of bird fatalities. 

 The eggs and helpless young, moreover, 

 are peculiarly liable to disaster. The 

 common red squirrel is a miscreant who 

 is especially fond of birds' eggs, and the 

 crow, blue-jay, and many other species of 

 birds are addicted to the disreputable habit 

 of preying on the eggs of their smaller 

 neighbors. We must remember, however, 

 that it is thus that nature prevents the 

 undue increase of all species of animals, 

 and thus works out her own Malthusian 

 theory. It is only wlren the balance is 

 disturbed by the introduction of new and 

 adventitious causes of destruction . that 

 we need fear the extermination of any 

 species of animals. Must not the fatalities 

 among our birds caused by the small boy 



