46 



Mr. F. W. Henderson tells in the Rockland "Independent" 

 of a cat that brought her kittens an entire brood of bobwhites. 

 Dr. George \V. Field, chairman of the Massachusetts Commis- 

 sion on Fisheries and Game, relates that a covey of bobwhites 

 which he was watching in Sharon, was discovered by a cat and 

 attacked at night, at intervals of two to seven days, until the 

 number had become reduced from 16 to 8. They then left in a 

 body for Canton, where they were recognized later. Mr, E. 

 Colfax Johnson of Shutesbury says that he has known of entire 

 flocks of young bobwhites being destroyed by cats. Mr. John 

 M. Crampton, superintendent for the Connecticut State Board of 

 Fisheries and Game, writes that last fall (1914) a farmer re- 

 quested that a special protector be sent to look after the bob- 

 whites on his land. When the warden arrived he found that the 

 farmer had 15 cats, some of which had brought in 3 bobwhites 

 already that morning. Mr. B. S. Blake of Webster tells of a cat 

 that took home 3 bobwhites in one week. Mr. Edward L. Parker 

 tells of a servant who saw a cat break up 2 bobwhites' nests. 

 Senator Louis Hilsendegen of Michigan asserts in the "Sports- 

 men's Review" that Henry Ford bought 200 pairs of bobwhites 

 at $3 a pair, and released them on his farm at Dearborn, Mich. 

 A stray cat, left by a farmer who had moved away, found them, 

 and it was noticed that their numbers were decreasing rapidly. 

 A watch was set for the cat; it was shot and found to weigh 

 sixteen pounds. Under a rail shelter, where the birds had fed, 

 a mass of feathers and other remains about a foot deep was 

 found. That cat, says the senator, had killed more than 200 

 bobwhites which had cost the owner over $300. Mr. E. R. 

 Bryant of the Henry Ford farms writes me that this story is 

 true' except that it may be a little overdrawn in regard to the 

 number of birds killed. He never knew exactly how many were 

 slain by this cat. 



Ruffed Grouse. 



Cats are nearly as destructive to grouse as to bobwhites. I 

 have seen a ruffed grouse that was killed on her nest and partly 

 eaten by a cat, while the eggs were scattered and some were 

 broken, but not eaten. Almost invariably in such cases a careful 

 search will reveal a few hairs of the cat on some branch or twig, 

 lost in the struggle. If several steel traps be set carefully 

 concealed around the dead bird the cat may be taken. 



Mr. William Brewster tells of a day's hunt by four sportsmen 

 with their dogs, in which they killed but one game bird — a bob- 

 white. On their return at night to the farmhouse where they 



