The San Francisco call., 1910-11-06

that our native warblers detect, by in
stinct. the neighborhood of cats. l have
seen enough in the country homes of
acquaintance and friends to confirm
this. One devoted lover OF the feline
tribe lantented to me. not long ago.
that her grounds. which used to be
vocal with bird-music. were silent now.
even in June.
In the next breath. but unconscious
of any possible connection between the
topics. she boasted that she had not
less than fourteen cats about the place,
and was hoping to raise the number to
twenty.
The instinct Of self-preseryation is not
needed to convince the innocent vocaHsts
that the imported sparrow is their nat
ural enemy. The intruder is a fighter
from the shell up. He waits for no pre-
text for quarrel. 1t is enough to know
that another and better bird is in pos
session of the precincts he means TO own.
He drags baby robins. thrushes. song
sparrows and mocking birds from the
nests and slays them in the sight OF the
agonized parents. He is a born fighter.
and his beak and claws are against birds
He keeps himself in practice by family
squabbleS, to the infinite annoyance OF
those who dwell within hearing of the
endless trays.
Our southern editor speaks Of his love
of conquest as almost human in It's
intensity" II has smack of cruelty
that is barbarous. He is the feathered
Ishmaelite of wood and farm and town
ship. In the city. as we have seen. for
NAL edicts have been passed against
him. In one southern capital meas
ure for poisoning the sparroWs al whole
sade was laid before the common coun-
ell at a winter meeting. For, be il re-
membered. our Ishmselite has all sea-
sons for his own He disdains 10 mi
CRATE when the rest Of the birds wing
their way to milder climes- He merely
doubles the thickness OF his underSar-
nlents and defies the frost and snow
The proposed measure looking TO the
thinning OF the barbarle horde was 10
strew poisoned grain upon roofs and IN
Yards Domestic quadrupedS would not
eat it. 1t was argued, and other Olrds
had gone southwark for the season Inc
motion was lost by the votes OF Few
tender hearted freeholdeTs, who thought
the scheme a violation OF the laws for
bidding cruelty TO animals, and because
others represented that pigeons-ltkeWlse
all-the-year<rOund reSidentS-Would SUI
fer with the guilty
discover and proclaim the fact that the
Ishmaelite is edible. F'urthefmofe' tnd1
he is no mean article or dlel am per
sonally indebted for the informat ton 20
a fine old southern gentleman, who had
a local reputation as "a bit OF an cpl
cure" and whose hospitality Is proven
bial. When I exclaimed at the bare
suggestion, he smiled indulgently:
The idea was not, at first, pleasant
TO me. Yet why not? He Is not
grub-deyourer like the robin: nor does
ne eat his weight in beetles twice a day
as the catbird and mocking bird Will DO
7 baA farx r17oCt<irau~ bird and i
paid the little negroes to catch june
bugs for him. He averaged ninety a
day. The sparrow would die before he
would touch earrion. He is graminivor-
Gus, and, moreover, a cleanly 'beastte,
taking a bath whenever he can ffnd
water He is always fat, and assure
you. upon the word of one who has
eaten and enjoyed him, a toothsome
morsel II came 10, my ears from a
source I could not doubt that at certain
popular restaurants sparrows are served
up under the name Of 'reedbirds.' and In
the season for our famous 'sora.' that