35 



which was filled out and returned by more than 200. In re- 

 sponse to a question regarding the effect produced on birds by 

 their natural enemies, 82 correspondents reported cats as very 

 destructive to birds. This was a much larger number than those 

 reporting any other natural enemy as destructive. Nearly all 

 who reported on the natural enemies of birds placed the cat 

 first among destructive animals. These reports and opinions 

 attracted my attention and I began to inquire regarding the 

 numbers of birds killed by cats. The more the matter was in- 

 vestigated the more shocking it became. 



Cats versus Spraying Trees. — Many people express the belief 

 that most of the dead birds found have been poisoned by in- 

 secticides used in spraying trees. During three seasons, while 

 investigating the effect produced upon birds by spraying trees, 

 about sixty birds, adult and young, that had been picked up 

 dead under or near trees sprayed with arsenate of lead, were sent 

 me from various parts of the State. Each bird was skinned 

 carefully, examined and dissected, and those which were not 

 shown to have met death by violence were analyzed to see if 

 poison could be found in them. Traces of lead and arsenic were 

 found in two only. Others had met death in various ways, such 

 as flying against wires or buildings; one had been shot; but 

 nineteen showed marks of the teeth and claws of cats, and the 

 coagulation of blood about the wounds showed that death had 

 been caused by the attacks of cats. Evidently the cats were 

 not hungry, but killed the birds in sport and let them lie. So 

 far as this evidence goes, it indicates that cats are fully ten times 

 more destructive to birds than is sprajdng as only birds killed by 

 cats but not eaten could be accounted for. 



Bird Slaughter by Cats. — Dr. Anne E. Perkins of Gowanda, 

 N. Y., who has had a long experience with pets, tells of a cat 

 which brought in meadowlarks, an oven-bird, two humming- 

 birds and a flicker within a few days.^ She writes, "I am skepti- 

 cal when any one says 'my cat never catches birds; it is only the 

 hungry ones abandoned by their owners.' I have seen an active 

 mother cat in one season devour the contents of almost every 

 robin's nest in an orchard, even when tar, chicken wire and other 

 preventatives were placed on the trunks of the trees. The robin 

 builds so conspicuous and accessible a nest, and is so easily agi- 

 tated by the approach of a cat, that it is diflBcult to save the 

 young." She writes me that for years she has known of in- 

 numerable nests being robbed, those of robins, catbirds, song 

 sparrows and wood thrushes especially, and she believes that the 



» Bird-Lore, July-Atiguat, 1910, p. 174. 



