. Useful birds and their protection. Containing brief descriptions of the more common and useful species of Massachusetts, with accounts of their food habits, and a chapter on the means of attracting and protecting birds . )eal thelaw, lest it should bankrupt the State. In New England our common hares (miscalled rabbits)are kept in check in thickly settled regions by hunters; butthe field mice, which are not subject to this check, haveincreased so rapidly in many localities that during the hardwinters of 1903—04 and 1904-0) thousands of young fruittrees in the New England States were attacked
. Useful birds and their protection. Containing brief descriptions of the more common and useful species of Massachusetts, with accounts of their food habits, and a chapter on the means of attracting and protecting birds . )eal thelaw, lest it should bankrupt the State. In New England our common hares (miscalled rabbits)are kept in check in thickly settled regions by hunters; butthe field mice, which are not subject to this check, haveincreased so rapidly in many localities that during the hardwinters of 1903—04 and 1904-0) thousands of young fruittrees in the New England States were attacked l)y them andruined. These mice have become so numerous that in someplaces young trees cannot be grown unless protected fromthem. They also destroy a great quantity of grass and grain,some small fruit, and vegetables. Unfortunately, the foodhabits of these little animals have never been fully Scnecb Owl PLATE VIII. —A Useful Mouse-eating Owl. (From Warren,after Audubou.) VALUE OF BIRDS TO MAN. 79 Enough is known, however, to show that they have somebeneficial habits, as well as some injurious ones ; but theyconstitute a very potential force for harm, on account of theirgreat fecundity. I do not know how many young our com-mon species can produt-e in a year, but two female Euroi)eanfield mice ke])t in captivity gave birth to thirty-six youno-within five months. The tally was ended by the escape ofone of the pair, else there probably would have been re-corded a still larger number. The interval between the birthof one litter of young and that of the next was only fromtwenty-four to twenty-nine days. This shows the dangerthat might easily arise from the unchecked increase of acreature which, feeding upon both croj^s and trees, is capableof unmeasured devastation. It also shows th(^ folly of ex-tirpating those Hawks and Owls which are known to feedlargely on field mice, for
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