200 
ably be found breeding within fifty miles 
of New York.) 
On August 6, 1909, I observed a female 
Black-throated Green Warbler feeding 
a very young bird (down still clinging to 
head, and no tail-feathers started) in a 
grove of Hemlocks about a mile from 
Wilton station—NoRMAN DEW. BETTS, 
Boulder, Col. 
Tax the Cat 
The excellent suggestion of Dr. Emily 
G. Hunt, of Pasadena, to tax the cat, 
should be followed up. The plan would 
furnish a goodly sum of money to be 
divided among politicians of hundreds of 
towns and villages. Bird-lovers every- 
where would be pleased, and, last of all, 
an incalculable amount of good would 
follow for our agricultural interests, 
which depend so largely upon the good 
deeds of birds. If a nuisance cannot be 
eaten, tax it. These two ways are very 
effective. Please do not consider that Iam 
not a friend of the cat. We always have 
some darlings about the house. Last year 
there were two Angoras, and a large 
gray Maltese, all famous ratters. The 
Maltese brought sixteen dead rats to the 
house in the country in the one month in 
which a record was kept. 
When the supply of rats and mice ran 
low, the enterprising cats became hunters 
in the woods about the house. Having 
been petted for bringing in the earlier 
game, they continued to bring in their 
quarry of all sorts. This consisted chiefly 
of rabbits, red and gray squirrels, chip- 
munks, and field-mice, all of which were 
abundant and destructive. 
= have seen all three cats leave the house 
at sundown, and return with as many 
rabbits in a few minutes. They killed 
comparatively few birds, and were intel- 
ligent enough to leave little chickens 
alone. Nevertheless, the birds that they 
did kill were mostly our favorites about 
the house, and, if the supply of rodents had 
diminished much, very many birds would 
no doubt have been killed daily. If it is 
not wise to put a tax of one dollar per year 
Bird - 
Lore 
upon all male cats in America, put a tax 
of three dollars per year at least upon all 
female cats. That would soon limit 
production.—RoBert T. Morris, 616 
Madison Avenue, N. Y. 
An Albino Blue Jay 
This Albino Jay, with a large number of 
other Jays, was fed, the past two winters, 
by a bird friend of mine. A party of 
hunters, to kill anything in sight, shot 
AN ALBINO BLUE JAY 
him within gun-shot of his feeding- 
ground. The bird’s throat and entire 
underparts are white; the bill, legs and feet 
very light horn-color; the crest and neck 
white; back white, excepting middle, 
which shows a tinge of blue; primaries 
white; secondaries blue, barred with black 
and tipped with white; the three middle 
tail-feathers white; the others blue, barred 
with black and tipped an inch or more 
with white—HerEnry W. Oscoop, Pitis- - 
field, Mass. 
