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FOREST AND STREAM 
FOREST and STREAM 
FORTY-SEVENTH YEAR 
FOUNDERS OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETY 
GOVERNING BOARD : 
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL, New York, N. Y. 
CARL E. AKELEY, American Museum of Natural History, New York 
FRANK S. DAGGETT, Museum of Science, Los Angeles, Cal. 
EDMUND HELLER, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 
C. HART MERRIAM, Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. 
WILFRED H. OSGOOD, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Ill. 
JOHN M. PHILLIPS, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
CHARLES SHELDON, Washington, D. C. 
GEORGE SHIRAS, 3rd, Washington, D. C. 
WILLIAM BRUETTE, Editor 
TOM WOOD, Manager 
Nine East Fortieth Street, New York City 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL WILL BE TO 
studiously promote a healthful interest in outdoor recrea¬ 
tion, and a refined taste for natural objects. Aug. 14, 1873 
THE LARKS ARE SINGING OVER THERE 
N incident of the Great War—in some minds an oc¬ 
currence so trifling as to warrant not a moment’s 
thought, but which has been deemed important 
enough by naturalists to invite discussion—is that be¬ 
tween the battle lines, undisturbed apparently by the 
horror of shell shriek and cannon roar, small bird life 
continues as of old. 
Until the very face of nature has been ground into 
dust these feathered creatures come and go about 
their own affairs, and in the lull of torment men 
hear them warbling and twittering, utterly indifferent 
to the world tragedy which is being enacted amid 
their nesting places. 
There is no reason why we should expect birds to 
have knowledge of matters as much beyond their ken 
as the cosmic influences of the outermost-flung mem¬ 
ber of our star universe are beyond the grasp of 
human comprehension. But it is a pleasant realiza¬ 
tion, nevertheless, to think that the brave men who 
face the hellish inferno prepared by an unscrupulous 
and unprincipled enemy have the occasional consola¬ 
tion of hearing a bird sing. 
Particularly does this hold true in the case of our 
own boys, three thousand miles from home and amid 
strange surroundings. Country raised, most of them, 
and familiar with outdoor life all of them, the common 
sounds of nature are a reminder that the Great Heart 
that governs the seasons’ change still pulses. 
Back home, the country lad reflects, the day is 
dawning or ending. The cows are coming down the 
lane. With a wrench of pain, almost, he visualizes 
the whole scene, to him so familiar. 
Back home, the city man knows, the parks are 
green and smiling, and all outdoors invites. The 
streams run cool where the angler wades, and clear 
waters lap the shore of the lake where last he pitched 
his tent. 
Home sick? Of course. Still it' is something that 
Hell does not prevail back home, at least, and the 
August, 1918 
stern work at hand is to keep it from extending its 
dominion—to kill it at the source. 
Yes, the larks are singing in Lorraine. It is a 
happy augury. Come what may, we know that 
over the shell-torn face of France, at a time not 
now long distant, Nature will pass her healing hand 
and restore to loveliness that which has been so long 
disfigured by noble martyrdom. 
To help at home in a cause to which the strength 
of this Nation is dedicated is something. To invite 
the supreme sacrifice at the front is everything. 
We wish we could convey to the younger members 
of Forest and Stream’s family now on the foremost 
lines something of the pride and appreciation we, who 
are not allowed to go, feel toward them. 
May the lessons they learned here of craft in out¬ 
door life stand them in good stead. That they will 
return as they went is the Nation’s prayer. No 
matter what befall, Fate will look into their clear eyes 
and find men, upstanding, virile, unafraid. 
THE CAT NOW A GAME ANIMAL 
EW YORK has a new game animal—the cat. 
Governor Whitman has signed the bill which re¬ 
moves Tabby and Thomas from the permanently pro¬ 
tected list, and places them in the class where shoot¬ 
ing is permitted under certain limitations. The con¬ 
ditions are that the cat may be destroyed if caught 
with a game or insectivorous bird which it has killed, 
or if discovered attacking such birds. 
The state sportsmen’s organization of New York 
has won its point, even if the bill which it fostered 
for licensing the cat fell by the wayside. In fact the 
new legislation will be found much more effective 
than the original measure. 
It w r ould be tiresome to repeat the well-proven 
charges against the cat as a destroyer of useful birds 
and desirable small animal life. We have referred 
frequently to the mass of evidence collected by Dr. 
Forbush of Massachusetts, and other authorities on 
this point, and can do no better than to invite the 
attention of doubting or unconverted readers to such 
testimony. The Massachusetts Commissioners on Fish¬ 
eries and Game have issued a poster calling attention to 
this serious subject and have asked the owner of every 
house cat during the next three months to assume the re¬ 
sponsibility of seeing that the cat will not be given an 
opportunity to kill birds. 
In any modern balance of nature the cat is as much 
out of place as a loose tiger in a city street. Now 
that food conservation is so essential, the cat, through 
its destruction of bird life, on which productivity 
depends, is to be regarded as an alien enemy, not only 
dangerous at large, but dangerous alive. 
Perhaps through evolution man may sometime 
breed a birdless cat, but we doubt it. He has made 1 
no progress in that direction yet. If he succeeds, the 
cat will be birdless only because there are no birds 
left, and when it comes to that, where will man him¬ 
self be? 
There is one feature of the New York law that 
appeals to us as strikingly wise in its incidence. We 
refer to the clause that permits the destruction of 
cats with prohibited birds in possession, or caught hi 
an attack on such birds. Who ever saw a cat at large 
in the fields which was not engaged in an attack on 
bird life? 
The New York statute, we believe, permits cat 
hunting only by persons over twenty-one years of 
age. and holding a hunting license. Here’s hoping 
for the issuance of a million cat hunting licenses this r ear. 
