78 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



CARNIVORA. 



Cats in London. — The number of Cats in London, and their depreda- 

 tions on wild birds in our parks, having been variously estimated, I applied 

 for information to the manageress of the " London Institution for Lost and 

 Starving Cats," who has obliged me with the following communication. — Ed. 



" I have much pleasure in replying to your letter, and in giving you 

 the information you require. According to Mr. Hudson's book, ' Birds of 

 London,' the number of Cats in our great metropolis cannot be less than 

 three-quarters of a million, and the stray and starving ones certainly not 

 under 80,000 to 100,000. The number of Cats we have taken in during 

 the three years from the 22nd January, 1896, to 22nd January, 1899, is 

 exactly 13,994. The first year we received 2450, the second year 4010, 

 and this third year 7527, making a total of 13,994 Cats. We could 

 increase the number tenfold but for want of means, and, in consequence, 

 want of hands and premises. Depots ought to be established in every part 

 of London, with one headquarter to take the Cats collected daily at these 

 various stations. Also a tax ought to be levied on Cats, so as to decrease 

 the shocking number of stray and starving Cats which now infest our 

 streets, and thereby lessen the abominable cruelties to which they are 

 exposed. We are only in our infancy as yet, but I hope, with energy and 

 push, we shall in a few years' time establish an institution on similar lines 

 to the Battersea Dogs' Home, with the exception that we search for Cats 

 in every available corner, and call for them at people's request free, but with 

 the prayer for a little help. I should think the probable number of Cats in 

 London could be easily estimated. There are few houses which do not shelter 

 at least one Cat, and every tenement has, with few exceptions, one. Cats 

 have on an average three litters a year of at least three kittens at a time, 

 and the Cats breed at six months old. A Cat's age ought to extend 

 to about ten years, but this is only when they have good homes and are 

 taken in at night. Cats exposed to all the hardships of weather hardly 

 live beyond five years, and stray Cats very few months after they are 

 deserted. We have received Cats in one or two instances twenty-two years 

 of age, and several over eighteen. These of course were great pets, with 



