JONES SCHOOL, CHICAGO, Sept. 1, 1887.




BIRDS.


BIRD ENEMIES.


How 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 powers 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 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 amusing to see the
robins hustle him out of the tree which holds their nest. They cry
"Thief, thief!" to the top of their voices as they charge upon him,