BNAKEfi vM' FIELD MICE. 
\vi;\ numerous. I !<■ says: M In the autumn of the year [May, 1873] 
countless number of storks (Ci maguira \i ra li) 
and short eared owls (Asi made their appearance. 
They bad also come to assist in the general fea-t. Year- 
pave [KM'haps passed during which scarcelj an individual of these 
kind- has l>een seen; all at once armies of majestic while storks are 
conspicuously marching about the plain in all directions, while 
tli*- night air resounds with the solemn hootings of innumerable 
owl-." European writers bear testimony t<> the usefulness of the 
bommon -turk (Ciconia rironia) in destroying voles and other kinds 
of mice. 
The family of cranes (Gruida) range farther north than the 
herons, and the three North American species arc known to feed to 
borne extent upon voles, capturing both young in the nests and adult-. 
The habitat of crane- include- upland prairie- a- well a- moist 
meadow-, and thus probably they prey upon more species of voles 
than heron- do. 
Although the usual food of gulls (Laridcs) consists of fishes and 
insects, they [\'i^\ also upon rodents. During the vole outbreak in 
Scotland in 1892 several species of gulls, notably the great black- 
hacked gull (Lams marin //>•). fed upon the field mice; and gulls are 
iiMially named among the species that feed upon lemmings during 
their migrations. It is highly probable that the larger American 
gulls feed upon field mice whenever they find them. 
Snakes. 
Snake- must be included among the natural enemies of field mice. 
While nearly all snakes Un>(\ extensively upon insects, many of them 
eat vertebrates, including fishes, reptile-, batrachians, bird-, and 
mammals. The lamer bull snakes (Pituophis) , black snakes (Cal- 
lopeltis), and rattlesnakes (Crotalus) of the United States U^\ 
largely upon mammal-, including rabbit-, prairie dogs, pocket go- 
phers, and ground squirrels, as well as different species of rats and 
mice. Black snakes and bull snakes probably kill more field mice 
than the other-: but black snakes destroy also a considerable number 
of nestling bird- and bird-" eggs, so that part of their beneficial 
work is offset by this injurious habit. A nurseryman in Pennsyl- 
vania report- that he secured immunity from mice in his nursery by 
turning loose in it 50 black snakes. On the whole, snakes, except 
the venomous species, are deserving of the farmers' protection. Like 
the toad, the -mailer kinds feed almost wholly upon insects; but an 
inherent prejudice induce- thoughtless people at every opportunity 
to destroy these friend- of agriculture. 
((Naturalist in La Plata, pp. 64-65, L892, 
