Canadian Forestry Journal, September, 1919 



341 



\ •'.■dar Waxwiiig sunning itself o.i a fence post. 



nown Bitterns to be momentarily attracted 

 y a small artificial lilly pond in the city out- 

 urts. 



The Search for Sanctuaries. 



Next to water comes protection as a factor 

 I attracting birds. The life of wild things is 

 ne continuous watchfulness against danger, 

 'leir enemies are mnumerable and their per- 

 )nal histories are little more than a sequence 

 [ escapes. They discover isles of safety as 



seems that they associate locally with danger 

 ad soon learn to avoid spots where they have 

 een repeatedly endangered. Under these cir- 

 imstances it is hardly surprising that a place 

 here they can lay aside some degree of their 

 /er watchful constraint has an attraction for 

 lem, and it is surprising what results where 



otection from enemies will produce. To see 



hundreds of wild geese, the wariest birds, as 

 tame as barnyard poultry at Jack Miner's place 

 at Kingsville, Ontario, simply because they 

 know they are safe, is an object lesson. In 

 Meriden, New Hampshire, through co-operation 

 throughout the village, all the birds are equally 

 tame; come to the hand and be fed, and show 

 a confidence in man and his protection that is 

 more like the Golden Age than this one of 

 Steel and Iron. 



Beware the Cat! 

 Principal among the bird dangers to be 

 guarded against in settled communities, is the 

 common domestic cat. The toll taken by gentle 

 pussy from bird life is, in total, enormous. No 

 cat but is a hunter on opportunity. Even the 

 best of care and feeding fails to restrain the 

 feline nature in this direction. Of course hun- 

 gry cats who have to hunt to live, kill more 

 birds than the pampered pets, but not even the 

 aristocratic Angora or Persian is guiltless. How 

 to control the cat is rather a difficult problem. 

 A cat-proof fence about the grounds is the most 

 satisfactory method. High fences of poultry 

 wire, or topped with the same with an outward 

 flare of eighteen inches left loose and flapping 

 is usually sufficient. When old fishnet can be 

 procured, a three-foot strip strung along the 

 top of the fence supported loosely by lath sup- 

 ports at wide intervals, is unclimbable by cats 

 and will keep them out. The most desir- 

 able solution of the cat problem is undoubtedly 

 a cat license. We should no more tolerate a lot 

 of underfed, ill-kept cats, living by their wits, 

 than we do a number of ownerless dogs. If 

 anything, cats are a greater danger to the com- 

 munity. Rabbies amongst dogs is a very rare 

 disease, but the cat's potentiality for the spread 

 of disease is great indeed, as they prowl every- 

 where and come closer in contact with us, 

 hugged and kissed by the children, nesting in 

 the woodshed corners in unexpected places, and 



i\>i-l< Uiihin (ak 



hi> 



ni.iriuim lul' 



