XI 



BIRD ENEMIES 



~l row surely the birds know their enemies! 

 -' — *- See how the wrens and robins and bluebirds 

 ■pursue and scold the cat, while they take little or 

 no notice of the dog ! Even the swallow will fight 

 the cat, and, relying too confidently upon its pow- 

 ers of flight, sometimes swoops down so near to its 

 enemy that it is caught by a sudden stroke of the 

 cat's paw. The only case I know of in which our 

 small birds fail to recognize their enemy is furnished 

 by the shrike ; apparently the little birds do not 

 know that this modest-colored bird is an assassin. 

 At least I have never seen them scold or molest 

 him, or utter any outcries at his presence, as they 

 usually do at birds of prey. Probably it is because 

 the shrike is a rare visitant, and is not found in this 

 part of the country during the nesting season of our 

 songsters. 



But the birds have nearly all found out the trick 

 of the jay, and, when he comes sneaking through 

 the trees in May and June in quest of eggs, he is 

 quickly exposed and roundly abused. It is amus- 

 ing to see the robins hustle him out of the tree 

 which holds their nest. They cry, " Thief, thief ! " 



