The Audubon Societies 



171 



LETTERS FROM CORRESPONDENTS 



Preserve the Cat 



I will send you an article, "Should Cats 

 be Licensed. " I also send you a quoted 

 article about cats by J. E. Stubbs, M.D. 

 The popular impression that cats do a 

 service in killing mice and rats is absolutely 

 true, the statement of noted authorities 

 to the contrary notwithstanding. Every 

 rat destroys, on the average, property to 

 the value of $5 every year of its life. There 

 are at least 5,000,000 rats in the United 

 States. Figure out the danger for yourself. 

 Every mouse destroys at least $2 worth of 

 property every year of its life. There are 

 at least as many mice as rats in the 

 United States. Figure out that. Now 

 every cat kills at least two rats and mice 

 each year. How much do they save the 

 country? There are probably 1,000,000 

 cats in the United States, and if a cat kills 

 one rat and two mice that is $9 to the 

 credit of each cat; so that cats save the 

 country at large $9,000,000. Is the much- 

 maligned cat worth anything? — Katha- 

 rine Parson, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



A Martyred Robin 



I inclose a check for three dollars for 

 30 new membership-buttons and leaflets. 



A Robin was found dead on the school- 

 house steps, shot b}' one of our pupils, 

 with an air-rifle. I carried his limp body- 

 through the school, and told the pupils 

 of all the grades of his trust in men, and 

 his assistance to them, and of how wicked 

 it is to betray that trust and forget that 

 assistance. The thirty new memberships 

 are the result of that incident, so that 

 Robin, at any rate, did not die in vain. 

 The principal reported the boy to the 

 Juvenile Court, and so there is a badly 

 scared boy here, who has been admitted 

 into the Audubon Society, upon his 

 earnest promise never to harm another 

 bird. His and several other air-rifles have 

 been voluntarily destroyed as a result of 

 the Robin's death. 



Mr. Voorhes, our principal, has pre- 



pared for me a petition to our senators 

 (as per the request in your favor of the 

 i6th) and I am getting the signatures of 

 voters to it through our Junior Audubon 

 Society. I will send it to you when we 

 have a creditable showing of names. — ■ 

 (Mrs.) Grace I. Schiele, Cincinnati, Ohio. 



English Sparrows on Trial 



We have had a most interesting trial 

 in our city. The case was "The Common- 

 wealth vs. E. Sparrow." Many prominent 

 winter visitors and residents either served 

 as officers, jurymen, or witnesses. The 

 case seemed to have attracted no end of 

 attention, and the papers have made 

 much of it. The finding of the Jury was as 

 follows: "We, your jury, solemnly and 

 with premeditation aforethought, find the 

 defendant, E. Sparrow, guilty of being a 

 menace to the worthier bird-life of Florida 

 and all America, including Porto Rico, the 

 Philippines, Alaska and Hawaii: (i) 

 Because all the witnesses testified per- 

 sistently against him; (2) Because no 

 witness could be produced to speak in 

 his favor — even his own attorney; and (3) 

 because Mrs. Tippetts made the best 

 speech." — (Mrs.) K. B. Tippetts, St. 

 Petersburg, Florida. 



A Junior Class 



In our Junior Audubon Class of Green- 

 ville School we have studied so far seven 

 birds, colored the plates, and mounted one 

 of each in our room. We described the 

 appearance of the bird and its nest, and 

 emphasized the destructiveness of the 

 insect most often destroyed by that bird. 



Several of the children fed the birds 

 during the winter, and already have bird- 

 boxes at home ready to put up this spring. 

 The children like the work, and are grow- 

 ing more keen in recognizing the various 

 birds as they return in the spring. The 

 boys say they will not harm birds' nests 

 this summer. I read Bird-Lore, then 

 give it to the pupils in turn. — Lillie 

 Leuallen, Merchaniville, New Jersey. 



