THE REFERENDUM 



95 



allowed to trespass on either private or pub- 

 lic property. 



On all sides, from all civilized countries, 

 in which measures are being taken to pro- 

 tect game and insectivorous birds, the evi- 

 dence is overwhelming that the cat is the 

 worst enemy of bird life. Nehrling goes so 

 far as to say : "They do more harm to our 

 familiar garden birds than all other enemies 

 combined." Says von Berlepsch : "We may 

 as well give up protection of birds about 

 our homes so long as we tolerate cats out- 

 side the buildings." 



Mr. E. H. Forbush, Massachusetts State 

 Ornithologist, once shadowed an ordinary 

 farm cat for one day and actually observed 

 her empty six birds' nests, eating or carry- 

 ing home all the young, and in the opera- 

 tion catching one or two of the parent birds. 

 "The birds," he writes, "were all common 

 orchard birds, robins, chipping sparrows, 

 bluebirds, and, I think, one song sparrow." 

 Mr. Forbush has made this a matter of 

 careful observation and study for over 

 twenty-five years ; and from this record it 

 would seem safe to say that his estimate is 

 within the truth, viz., that if the birds hold 

 out, a cat, on the average, will get ten old 

 ones and forty young in a year. 



Game birds, as well as song and insectivor- 

 ous birds, are the recognized property of the 

 State, and in Massachusetts the law speci- 

 fies a fine of $10 for each bird killed or il- 

 legally taken. In many cases this fine does 

 not constitute an equivalent for the value of 

 the bird's work in a community overbur- 

 dened with insect pests. Then where is the 

 reason or sense in fining a man ten dollars 

 for killing a single bird and in permitting 

 him to keep an inconsequent and uncon- 

 trolled cat that kills fifty birds a year? 



Moreover, every sportsman can testify 

 from personal observation of the damage 

 done among our ground-nesting game birds 

 •by roaming and half-wild cats. They are 

 animals of ineradicably feral instincts, and 

 make no return for the ravages they com- 

 mit. Even as a pet the cat is unresponsive, 

 exhibiting only that type of gratitude so 

 well defined as "a livelv sense of favors ex- 

 pected." 



Finally, then, let the sportsmen of this 

 country face the cat problem as common 

 sense and a due regard for the value of our 

 bird life may dictate. If the uncontrolled 

 cat is a menace to our birds; if, under the 

 guise of a household pet, the community 

 harbors the worst sort of a wolf in sheep's 

 of clothing, let us deal with the issue straight 

 from the shoulder and waste no time about 

 it. At any rate, we can make it apparent 

 to cat owners that the safety of their pets 

 can *be assured only by having them keot 

 strictly on their own premises. This will 

 give us at least a fair start toward the final 

 solution of the problem. 



Ernest Russell, Worcester, Mass. 



FROM FAR WASHINGTON 



Editor Recreation : 



I am going to send you thai photograph 

 of Daniel Boone's monument Dial I promised 

 you sonic time ago, also a photo of a ptarmi 



gan that is changing from fall if. winter 



style. 1 will also send to yon a couple of 

 twists of good old Kentucky tobacco. Wlcn 

 you want to forget that yo;i arc- a slave of 

 the people and go back to the good old days, 

 back off into a corner, get out the old cob, 

 put your feet up higher than your head, shut 

 your eyes and dream that you are on Lake 

 Chelan, on Fish Creek, with a small frog 

 trying for that big brook trout that would 

 have nothing to do with any of the vanities 

 and tinsels of the flymaker's art. No use to 

 try_ and coax you out here, as you :., j 

 chained and riveted to business. 



I am living on my own place now, and am 

 very comfortably fixed. Did intend to build 

 a new house this fall, but was unable to do 

 so. Expect to put it up in the spring, also 

 build a new launch, as my other one is too 

 small. I wanted to build a house like yours, 

 but when I began to count the logs or trees 

 on my place that were fit I found that I could 

 not do it. 



Business in the tourist line was slack this 

 summer. I had a few parties to take out 

 fishing, also a few hunting, and am glad to 

 say that they left me well pleased and talk 

 of coming back next year. 



Jas. W. Nicol, 

 Moore P. O., Lake Chelan, Wash. 



CONCERNING BR'ER RABBIT 



Editor Recreation : 



As I am a lover and observer of nature, 

 I wish to call your attention to a mistake 

 by John Boyd in his article "Footprints in 

 the Snow" in November Recreation, page 

 417, in describing the tracks of the cotton- 

 tail rabbit. Mr. Boyd's idea seems to be that 

 the rabbit "doubles up" and thus overreaches 

 and makes the tracks of the hind feet ahead 

 of those of the fore feet. This is a mistake. 

 The rabbit does not "double up." If Mr. 

 Boyd will watch closely he will notice that 

 Mr. Cottontail will touch the ground with 

 the front feet first, give himself a push up- 

 ward and come down on his hind feet con- 

 siderably in front of the tracks of the fore 

 feet; takes a long jump and comes down on 

 his fore feet and repeats the operation. In 

 fast running the tracks of the fore feet and 

 those of the hind feet are often farther apart 

 than the length of the rabbit ; and Mr. Boyd 

 can readily see that the rabbit could not over- 

 reach such a distance. 



Many of the smaller rodents run very 

 similarly, the squirrels and mice being no ex- 

 ceptions. The weasel and mink will usually 

 make the tracks of the hind feet directly in 

 those of the front feet, so that only those of 

 the hind feet are visible. 



