49 



Mr. W. R. Bryant, of the Henry Ford farms, Dearborn, Mich., 

 says that it has been necessary there, in protecting birds, to kill 

 " about 75 cats each year, or possibly less each succeeding year." 

 He names the house cat as the first and greatest drawback "in 

 our efforts to save and increase the song birds and game birds." 

 Such destruction of cats is a necessity; otherwise practically no 

 game can be raised. Mr. Harry T. Rogers, of the New York 

 State game farm, tried for some time to kill 5 cats that invaded 

 the premises in 1914. These cats became so troublesome that an 

 organized hunt was made for them, but Mr. Herbert K. Job 

 asserts that before they were killed their depredations had cost 

 the State of New York fully $1,000. 



Number of Observers reporting Game Birds killed. 



Forty-six observers write me that they have known cats to 

 catch and kill ruffed grouse; 44 report the same of bobwhites; 

 12 report pheasants; 11, woodcock; 8, rails; 3, heath hens; 3, 

 shore birds; 2, mourning doves; and 2, wild ducks. 



Destruction of Poultry and Pigeons by Cats. 



Every one knows that some cats kill chickens and that such 

 cats usually are short lived, as the owner of the chickens com- 

 monly requisitions the shotgun as soon as he is aware of the 

 identity of the marauder. He often will allow his cat to kill 

 song birds to its heart's content, but chicken killing is quite 

 another matter. Nevertheless, if we accept the statements of 

 my 400 correspondents as indicative of the general situation, 

 more chicks than birds are known to be killed by cats. This is 

 readily explained, for no one ever knows how many birds a cat kills 

 if it is allowed to roam, while chicks are counted and watched, 

 and the numbers killed by cats can be approximated closely. 



Chickens. 

 !Mr. Charles ]\I. Field of Shrewsbury has known a cat to kill 

 18 chicks in a day. Mr. Frederick W. Goodwin of East Boston 

 gives a record of 24 killed by a cat in one day. Miss Mabel 

 McRae, Boylston, has a record of 25. Mr. A. B. Brundage of 

 Danbury, Conn., tells of 34 as a day's work for one lusty cat. 

 Mr. Wilbur F. Smith of South Norwalk, Conn., says that one of 

 his neighbors lost over 40 chicks before he began to shoot. He 

 got four cats and the chick killing ended. Mr. J. Riley Rogers 

 of Byfield writes that he knows of one cat that got 60 in one 



