ubject, may give us a full and exhaustive account of what the
various birds do for us in the way of keeping down the great scourge of
grass and weeds with which the farmers have to deal. In the meantime,
however, we may bear in mind that enough evidence already has been
accumulated to prove that as destroyers of noxious weed seeds the wild
birds are of vast importance.

[Illustration: Farallon Cormorants and White Pelicans on a Government
Bird Reservation in southern Oregon.]

_Dealing with the Rodent Pests._--In addition to {113} weeds and
insects, there is yet another group of pests, some representatives of
which may be found in every neighbourhood. It is composed of rabbits,
ground squirrels, prairie dogs, mice, and the like. They all possess
long front teeth for gnawing, and constitute the Order of Rodents.
Some species destroy fruit trees by gnawing away the bark near the
ground, others attack the grain stacked in the field or stored in the
granary. As these little sharp-eyed creatures are chiefly nocturnal in
their habits, we seldom see them; we see only the ruin they have
wrought. In some of the American ports incoming vessels are
systematically fumigated to kill the rats for fear they may bring with
them the bubonic plague. In April, 1898, while engaged in field
natural history work in Hyde County, North Carolina, I found the farms
along the north shore of Matamuskeet Lake were overrun by swarms of
large brown rats that burrowed in the ground everywhere, and coming out
at night wrought havoc and destruction on the farm lands. The whole
country was up {114} in arms and the farmers were appealing for State
and Federal aid to help them rid the land of this terrible scourge. In
short, the rodents, as a class, are regarded as decidedly detrimental
to the interests of mankind.

[Illustration: Screech Owl and Its Prey]

_The Terror That Flies by Night._--Among the chief enemies of rodents
in North America are the nineteen species of Owls, untold numbers of
which are abroad every night searching through fields and forests for
just such creatures as these. The digestive processes of Owls are such
that the hard, indigestible portions of their food are disgorged in the
form of balls and may often be found beneath their roosting places.
One of our most odd-looking birds is the Barn Owl. Being nocturnal in
its habits it is rarely seen unless one takes the trouble to climb into
unfrequented church towers, the at