74 Wild Bird Guests 



to be her favorite prey. When they nest in the 

 trees or shrubs, or on arbors in the garden, her 

 wonderful ability as a climber enables her to 

 invade their nests. When they come to the 

 ground for food or water, she lies in wait and 

 springs upon them. She hunts by day and by 

 night, and when she is abroad there are few 

 places where birds are safe. 



Mr. Chapman, America's best-known orni- 

 thologist and a most careful and accurate writer, 

 says: "In our own opinion there are not less than 

 twenty-five million cats in the United States, and 

 there may be twice that number. A house cat 

 has been known to kill fifty birds in a season and 

 a naturalist, than whom none is better qualified 

 to judge, believes that five hundred thousand 

 birds are annually killed by cats in New England 

 alone ! Apply these figures to the cats and the 

 country at large, and the result is appalling!" 



Mabel Osgood Weight, president of the Con- 

 necticut Audubon Society, and author of Bird 

 Craft, Citizen Bird, and other works, who has had 

 a wide experience with both birds and cats, as- 

 sures us that "the evidence of men and women 

 whose words are incontestable would verify my 

 most radical statement, but one fact is beyond 

 dispute if the people of the country insist on 

 keeping cats in the same numbers as at pres- 



