212 Bird -Lore 



she had been encountered. It might have proved otherwise with them had we 

 not frequently moved her from place to place, always so screening her that she 

 could be viewed from one direction only — a plan equally necessary to adopt 

 in dealing with scarecrows, unless one be wilHng to have them contemptuously 

 ignored by intelligent Crows, as happens so often in New England cornfields 

 and elsewhere. 



Thus managed, our stuffed cat safeguarded the bulbs through that entire 

 spring, yet banished the chipmunks no further than to neighboring stone walls, 

 along which they cgntinued to scamper freely, or to a well-curb still nearer 

 the house, whereon they loved to bask in warm sunlight. Her effect on birds 

 then nesting in or near the dooryard was different and less pleasing. For 

 whenever it became known to them that she was lurking there, Robins, Cat- 

 birds, Wrens, Song Sparrows, Orioles, and others asssembled, fluttering as 

 close about her as they dared, uttering cries of alarm or protest which sometimes 

 swelled into clamor so disturbing that we had to remove her from their sight. 



After thus accomplishing all that had been desired of her at Concord, the 

 inanimate puss was taken to Cambridge later in the year, and there rendered 

 similar useful service by preventing certain birds from eating fruit which we 

 did not care to let them have. Numerous Starlings, especially coveting that of 

 our Parkman's apple tree, were kept away from it by the cat until at length one 

 of them found opportunity to watch the placing of her in the tree. What he 

 then saw must have been correctly interpreted and also promptly communicated 

 to the other members of the flock, for they soon returned to resume their 

 interrupted feast and thereafter took no apparent notice of the cat. All this 

 transpired within my view. It suggested that Starlings may not only observe, 

 but also reason, shrewdly. Doubtless there are many other birds no less 

 gifted with such intelligence. 



The foregoing testimony should convince at least some of those who read 

 it that a stuffed cat may be better worth her keep than a living one — especially 

 in times of food scarcity like these. If, during the continuance of her allotted 

 nine lives, such an animal may occasionally have employed a dolorous voice to 

 shatter midnight quiet, or needle-pointed claws to transfix defenceless little 

 birds or beasts, what does it matter now? All such transgression must of 

 necessity date back to a more or less remote past and hence need give no present 

 concern to anyone. 



