THE BIRD DEPARTMENT 



407 



the wild animals of the nearby woods. Perhaps you 

 will find the tracks of a red squirrel ; squirrels are very 

 clever and usually manage to exist even in cities. Per- 

 haps you will find the tracks of a cottontail ; rabbits are 

 very prolific and stand a great deal of persecution. Prob- 

 ably you will find the tracks of a few rats and mice ; but 

 be assured you will find crossing and recrossing, the 

 tracks of at least one stray cat. I do not believe there is a 

 place in Eastern United States within five miles of a 

 human habitation where you will not find the tracks of 

 domestic cats more frequent than those of any wild ani- 

 mal, squirrels, rabbits and 

 mice excepted. Trappers 

 catch them in their traps 

 set in the wilds, hunters 

 find them in the deep 

 woods when hunting for 

 bear and deer; and time 

 and again, when I have 

 been in the woods far from 

 any house, "squeaking" to 

 call up the birds, I have 

 become aware of some 

 light-footed animal sneak- 

 ing up through the bushes 

 ready to pounce upon the 

 young bird which I am 

 imitating. Once in a great 

 while it is a weasel ; less 

 often it is a fox, and forty- 

 nine times out of every 

 fifty it is nothing but a 

 stray, hunting cat. At 

 times I have recognized 

 the cat as belonging to a 

 neighbor whose cat "never 

 catches birds," but more 

 often it is a lean, wild- 

 looking animal that knows 

 no owner and may even 

 have been born in the 

 woods, for we are rapidly 

 developing a strain of half 

 wild cats that spend their 

 entire days in the woods 

 and fields and have never 

 known the habitations of man. 



"But my cat never catches birds," is the response of 

 many people. "I whipped it every time it caught a bird 

 until it now knows better." 



Yes, undoubtedly the cat can learn, for cats are cer- 

 tainly quite intelligent, but they merely learn not to bring 

 into the house any bird that they catch. 



It is true that cats can be taught not to touch caged 

 birds ; they have even adopted young chickens and tame 

 quail. But put any cat out into the woods and fields, let 

 a young bird flutter from a nest or an old one venture too 

 close in its defense, and no matter how well trained, no 

 matter how stupid or slothful the cat, it could not resist 

 its instinct to capture. A great deal can be done and 



A BIRD FOUNTAIN 



Many species of birds visit such fountains daily and add very much to the 

 attractiveness of the garden. The fountains are of many varieties, 

 few of them costly, most of them artistic. 



ought to be done to minimize the chances of one's cat 

 catching birds and certainly the number of birds killed 

 by cats can be greatly diminished. Every owner of a 

 cat and every cat-lover should feel it his responsibility 

 to cooperate with the naturalist and bird lover to con- 

 trol the depredations of this animal. 



This does not mean that all cats should be killed or 

 that there is no place in the general scheme of things 

 for the domestic cat. The lion is safe in the circus cage ; 

 the tiger does no damage in the zoo; the bloodthirsty 

 little ferret can be kept by anyone with impunity. Dy- 

 namite, strychnine, and 

 carbolic acid all have their 

 value, but all are kept with 

 responsibility and used 

 with caution. If one has 

 a fondness for the playful- 

 ness of the kitten or cares 

 for the indifference and 

 selfish responses of Tabby 

 or likes to raise fancy 

 breeds of cats for display, 

 it is perfectly legitimate 

 that he should possess 

 them. If one prefers to 

 care for a cat rather than 

 to set a trap, the former 

 will often prove nearly as 

 effective as the latter in de- 

 stroying those obnoxious 

 little rodents that often 

 do much damage. A good 

 rat-catching cat (and they 

 are scarce) is a decided 

 asset about the barn. But, 

 if one decides to keep a cat, 

 he must at the same time 

 decide to assume the care 

 and responsibility which its 

 ownership imposes. It is 

 not true that a cat makes 

 a better ratter if it is not 

 fed. Cats have much 

 more patience to wait 

 stalk the mouse if they 



at the rat hole 

 are fed regularly, 

 rats and mice in 

 kept where it 



or to 



Moreover, if a cat is kept to catch 

 the house and barn, it should be 

 is supposed to hunt and not 

 turned loose in the woods and fields where hunting is 

 so much easier. It is a common practice to put the 

 cat out at night just when it is most needed inside and 

 just when it can do the most damage outside. If this 

 practice could be stamped out, if everyone would put the 

 cat in the cellar or lock it in the barn at night and feed 

 it in the morning before turning it loose, the cat prob- 

 lem would be solved. No one would keep any unneces- 

 sary cats ; stray, hunting cats could be identified as such 

 and put out of the way, and the country would soon be 



