408 USEFUL BIRDS. 



during the breeding season of the birds, unless it has been 

 tauo;lit not to kill them. Cats can be confined durino- the 

 day in outdoor cages, as readily as rabbits, and given the 

 run of the house at night. Massachusetts law does not 

 give the cat protection, and all cats found running at large 

 mav be treated as wild animals. All wild or "woods" cats 

 should be shot at sight. Marauding cats may be trapped 

 by box traps baited with catnip, and held for the owner, or 

 killed if no owner appears. 



Farmers know well how to deal with foxes, weasels, minks, 

 skunks, and raccoons. They regard sijuirrels as pests ; but 

 it is extremely probable that it is only the individual squir- 

 rel that robs birds' nests. Mr. A. C. Dike writes me that 

 one season when he was carefully watching the birds about 

 his place he saw the eggs and young in eight birds' nests 

 destroyed by the red squirrel ; but that in each case the 

 same squirrel was the culprit, for he was able to identify it, 

 because it had lost a part of its tail in escaping from the 

 cat. Squirrels often nest in hollow trees in which birds have 

 already established themselves, thus driving out the liirds. 

 It is quite possible that in some localities many of the squir- 

 rels may have acquired the habit of killing birds. When this 

 is evident the squirrels should be killed. Unfortunately, the 

 law protects gray squirrels at the onh' time when this habit 

 can be observed. Where birds show no alarm when squir- 

 rels approach their nests, the presumption is that the squir- 

 rels are innocent. The beauty and grace exhibited in the 

 forms and motions of squirrels have made them favorites 

 with many people, who will not wish to kill them. Others 

 will wish to avoid killing Crows, Jays, Hawks, or even cats. 

 But all should regard it a duty to protect the nests of l)irds 

 from these marauders. Some experiments in this direction 

 have been made. It is a simple matter, as has been described, 

 to protect such l)irds as will build in nesting boxes ; but those 

 that nest on the ground are peculiarly liable to the attacks 

 of their enemies, and other means of protecting them may 

 possi])ly be devised. 



Years ago I secured a translation of a paper published in 

 France by Xavier Raspail, entitled "The Protection of Use- 



