24 Wild Bird Guests 



long ago I surprised a fox as he was eating a 

 very large woodchuck. When he saw me he ran 

 off with his prey, but I shouted at him and he 

 dropped it. He had probably killed it the day 

 before, eaten a part of it, and buried the rest, 

 for it was rigid and had evidently just been 

 taken from the ground. 



Bears in the United States probably harm the 

 birds very little; they are usually too slow of 

 movement to capture anything that can fly, 

 and the damage they do in this direction is 

 probably limited to the devouring of eggs in 

 nests which they happen to stumble upon. 

 That at certain times and places bears may 

 menace a colony of birds is pointed out by Dr. 

 Charles H. Townsend who has kindly called my 

 attention to Captain Cartwright's Journal of 

 June 1 8, 1777, where it is recorded that polar 

 bears were killed and their stomachs found to be 

 filled with the eggs of eider ducks. 



Raccoons eat a wide variety of food, of which 

 in most places young birds and birds' eggs prob- 

 ably constitute only a small part. I doubt if 

 they often capture full-grown wild birds. Water- 

 fowl sitting on their nests may sufi^er in certain 

 localities, and perhaps raccoons occasionally 

 capture birds on their roosts at night. Com- 

 paratively slow-moving creatures, fond of fruit. 



