42 



are killed by it "between supper and breakfast," and unless the 

 cat brings its game to the house, the owner has no knowledge 

 of its nefarious work. Practically every cat that is allowed to 

 roam at night where there are birds kills them sooner or later. 

 As these 405 country cats were allowed to roam nightly where 

 birds live, the chances are that every one of them caught a 

 bird, adult or nestling, for breakfast time after time while its 

 owner was still sleeping. Probably those 405 cats kill and eat 

 thousands of birds yearly. 



Correspondents report Many Birds killed. — The numbers of 

 birds killed by cats cannot be approximated except by those 

 who have paid particular attention to this subject. Among my 

 correspondents are many such. Rev. Manley B. Townsend of 

 Nashua, N. H., says that vagrant cats are common, and that 

 nearly every day in the nesting season he has found birds killed 

 and torn by cats. He has seen many fledglings in the possession 

 of cats, and many reports of birds destroyed have come to him. 

 Mr. Charles Crawford Gorst of Boston says that a friend told 

 him that his cat had 14 birds laid out for its young one morning 

 before breakfast. Mr. Samuel Hoar of Concord has known a 

 cat to kill 10 birds in a day. Mr. H. Linwood White of iMaynard 

 tells me that a cat owned by one of his neighbors recently brought 

 in 6 adult birds to her young in one day. Mr. Walter P. Henderson 

 of Dover has seen a cat with 3 different birds in two hours. Mr. 

 J. M. Van Huyck of Lee has seen cats hunting in the meadows 

 for ground birds, getting both old and young, and striking down 

 swallows as they flew over the grass. ISh. A. K. Learned of 

 Gardner has known a cat to kill 9 tree swallows in one day. Mr. 

 E. Colfax Johnson of Shutesbury says it is a common sight to 

 see a cat eating a bird. Mr. D. T. Cowing of Russell asserts 

 that his cat lived ten years and killed about 170 birds of which 

 he knew, and believes that more were killed. ]\Ir. Edward T. 

 Hartman, secretary of the Massachusetts Civil Service League, 

 says that where he lives he commonly sees cats hunting birds, 

 and that he has known them to catch a great many. Mr. Frank 

 E. Watson has no doubt that he has taken 100 birds away from 

 his cat. Mr. George H. Hastings of Fitchburg had a cat that 

 killed at least one bird a day in summer, and was known to kill 

 31 in one season. Mrs. Charles L. Goldthwait of Peabody called 

 the attention of the owner of a cat to the fact that it had just 

 killed a goldfinch; the owner said that the cat had killed several 

 birds daily, and that it could not be prevented. Mr. A. M. 

 Otterson of Hall, N. Y., has known a cat to kill 13 birds in a day, 

 and to strike down swallows in flight. Mr. George G. Phillips, 



