100 



Bird - Lore 



just read two letters w hicli treat of the 

 'Cat versus Bird' question, and I notice 

 that the person who seems to have suf- 

 fered most from the depredations of puss 

 is the least vindictive against cats; for, 

 although the letter calls them 'blood- 

 thirstv creatures,' it only advises ''in some 

 wav curtailing their liberty;" while the 

 previous writer is surprised because noth- 

 ing he could say or do about his Bluebirds 

 would console his neighbor for her cat, 

 murdered in their behalf. May not the 

 cat have been, for a long time, the pet of 

 its owner, and, without being unreason- 

 able, might not she well consider that its 

 constant companionship, summer and 

 winter, for years, made it of more value 

 than the pets of a season ? 



Do not think I am advocating letting 

 stray cats, owned by no one, forage on 

 birds; but I do think that bird-protectors 

 should be careful not to kill pet cats, un- 

 less, in extreme cases, where the owners 

 are warned of the harm they do and yet 

 take no pains to restrain them. 



In favor of puss, may I cite the case of 

 our cat, a handsome, black animal, whose 

 beauty and intelligence have made him 

 the delight of our household for years? 

 In part, on account of the birds, we have 

 feared to take him to our summer home, 

 and left him in the city with the caretaker; 

 but, last year, he was at Magnolia from 

 the end of June to the end of October, 

 walking out every day among the bushes 

 and trees. Once only was he seen with a 

 bird, and there is no reason to believe 

 that he caught that; it may have died 

 from eating poisoned berries, for the whole 

 place was heavily sprayed with arsenate 

 of lead. Kitty's persistence in bringing 

 this bird into the house convinced us that 

 had he caught others, we should have 

 seen them. — Cora H. Clarke. Boston, 

 Mass. 



lowing. The question is often asked 

 whether cats seriously interfere with 

 game birds. 



Before moving to my new place last 

 spring (but while the birds were in charge 

 of a good man who did live on the place), 

 I had four Ruffed Grouse and si.x Bob- 

 wiiilcs killed by cats. This was all done 

 by the cats reaching through inch-mesh 

 jioultry wire. The birds were frightened 

 against the wire and generally the head 

 was pulled off. As soon as the trouble 

 began, numerous traps were set, and, 

 thinking it the work of Owls, a number 

 were placed on perches and on the corners 

 of the cages. Nothing but cats were caught 

 and with their disappearance all distur- 

 bance ceased. 



Later in the summer, a Bobwhite cock 

 began brooding a nest of si.xteen eggs. 

 The nest was well concealed, and about 

 three feet from the side of a cage forty 

 feet square. Cats frightened him off four 

 times, and each time I took the eggs and 

 slipped them under a brooding bantam 

 hen before they had time to chill. He 

 finally brought off fifteen chicks. When 

 the cock and his mate had reared the 

 brood to about three weeks of age, the dog 

 I keep, mainly for the purpose of warning 

 cats from the premises, took a vacation 

 for a few days. During this time a cat 

 disturbed the brood on a cold night, and 

 only three of the chicks were found alive 

 next morning. The brood was in a cage 

 6x12 feet, inch-mesh wire, with a strip 

 of cloth i8 inches wide around the bottom, 

 and they were concealed under a dense 

 pile of green spruce boughs. 



The above is only a fraction of my ex- 

 perience the past season. We do not 

 need to look beyond the uncontrolled 

 lat to account for widespread extermina- 

 tion of game birds. 



C. F. Hodge, Worcester, Mass. 



Clarke University, Worcester, Mass. 

 February lo, 1909. 

 Editors of Bird-Loke: In response 

 to your request for data regarding de- 

 struction of birds by cats in last Biun- 

 LcjRE, I beg to place on record the fol- 



Correction 



In the February number of Bird- Lore, 

 it was stated that the contribution to the 

 Willow Island fund from Mrs. Phillips 

 was 50 cents; it should have been $5. 



