Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-30
enc MES OF BIRD S
Those Which Beset Them in
Winter Season.
COLD A N D. HU N Err
OFTEN FALL PREY TO THEIR
OWN KIND.
Mink and Weasel and Other Animals
Are Tireless in Their
Hunt.
G Id A N D. q u N G E R

Winter Is hard time even for the
stout-hearted birds which remain in the
north to face 1t. At this season their
everyday enemies are reinforced by hunger
and cold, which, working hand in hand, can
OFTEN overcome the bravest thing that
wears feathers. OF the two hunger Is the
more dangerous; even a very low tempera-
ture can be withstood by birds which are
we'll fed A birds digestive apparatus is
furnace which, when supplied with plenty
OF fuel (food), gives the body warmth,
which Is retained by the non-conducting
coat of feathers. But at this cold season
there is more fuel required and less to be
had than at any other time Of the year.
and as consequence many Of the little
furnaces go out-the birds have starved to
death. The last two winters have been
unusually severe, and tremendous loss of
bird life has been the result Death is
often hastened by severe storms of snow or
sieet, which literally bury alive birds pre-
v1ously weakened by insufficient food. Dur
ing the winter of 1003-19O4 when the ground
was covered under several feet of snow for
months at time, and when the trees were
often sheathed in ice, many birds persisted,
especially in the northern and eastern
states. 1t was estimated by the state or
nithologist that between 30 and 90 per cent
of all the quail in Massachusetts persisted
that winter owing to the severity of the
weather. They We're found, poor things,
by those who tramped the woods In little
Hocks OF a dozen more frozen stiff be-
meath the surface of the snow. Often 1t
could be seen that they had wandered far
In search of food, and in at least one case
number were found dead in the midst
of plenty, having been too weak to eat the
food which they had finally reached too
late.
But birds have many other natural enc
mics besides the weather to contend with
in winter. The cold which increases their
own hunger also sharpens the appetites of
the creatures which prey upon them. Among
these we must of course include the birds
or prey, for there is no hour Of the day or
night but some of them are abroad hunting
for food, be it furred or feathered During
the day the hawks swing in broad circles
high above the earth, watching the smaller
birds which fit across the snow fields or
which gather in fockS among the ever
greens.
The Noiseless Owls.
At night the owls pass softly overhead,
now STOPPING on noiseless wing to snatch a
sleeping crow from his perch, now striking
a grouse, as she crouches in the snow. OF
the nocturnal owls the great horned is one
OF the most destructive to birds, not only
because ne is large and powerful and re-
qulres more food than the smaller Species
put because he seems more partial to feath-
cred prey. He can kill a crow or even a
domestic hen, with a grasp of his powerful
foot. He has been known to kill a huge
tomcat IN open fight, and any bird which
can 90 that must have something more
than strength.
1t is surprising how destructive even a
small bird can be when equipped by nature
for the work of killing Last winter a
Norther shrike came into my garden and
played havoc with flock of tame chick
adees which frequented our lilac bushes
His hawk-like bill alone proclaimed his
trade; his feet looked no more formidable
than those of a robin. But he killed several
Of my chickadees before l caught him at
it; after that he killed no more Swiftly but
silently he worked in pursuit of q single
chlckadee. The latter seemed to realize his
danger fully, and, scolding necessarily, fit
ted from point 10 point, followed by the
shrlke who paused on a branch for a mo-
ment after after each swoop, and then darted
again like lightning. But by and by the
chickadee became so excited that he left
the cover of the bushes and flew out across
the open. The shrike was after him in
stantly, and, after some doubling and turn
ing, bore his little victim to the ground and
quickly killed him.
Mink and Weasels.
Mink and weasels, too, are active enc
mics of birds in winter. and though
they get only those which they are able
to seize on the ground, they probably de-
stroy a good many. They are tireless crea-
lures, covering considerable area of coun-
try in day, and finding here an exhausted
pheasant, there a starving quail and else
where a grouse imprisoned beneath the
crusted snow These 1.-THE, long bodied ami
mails are probably much more destructive
to bird life during the nesting season, when
sharp eyes and noses may detect the pres
ence Of countless fedgling field sparrows.
toWhees, bobolinks and Others whose homes
are on the ground. Nevertheless when we
follow their footprints in the snow and find
blood and punches of feathers on the trails
we know that they are busy In winter as
we'll
Foxes, I am inclined to think. do little
harm In winter. To be sure, they get an
occasional grouse or quail, sometimes under
the snow, sometimes above It, Now and
then, perhaps, a fox will dash out into shall
low water and get a wild duck but after
all, the number of birds destroyed by foxes.
In winter at least, is comparatively small.
One of the worst bird enemies of all at
this season is the domestic cat She trips
cautiously and silently through the snow,
crouches low near any flock of birds which
may be feeding on the ground and springs /
upon the first unfortunate which happens
to hop too near. She will do this several
times In a day, and every day in the week,
If she gets the chance. An active cat can
easily kill a hundred birds in a winter,
and many cats kill more than this number
If we are friends of the birds this Is a
good time to prove it. We cannot regulate
the temperature, but we can feed the birds:
We cannot prevent the snowstorms, but we
can help to reduce the number of cats
ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES