of the wild cats--by their presence _away from home, hunting in the
open_. Kill all such, wherever found. The harmless cats are domestic in
their tastes, and stay close to the family fireside and the kitchen.
Being properly fed, they have no temptation to become hunters. There are
cats and cats, just as there are men and men: some tolerable, many
utterly intolerable. No sweeping sentiment for _all_ cats should be
allowed to stand in the way of the abatement of the hunting-cat
nuisances.

_Of all men, the farmer cannot afford the luxury of their existence_! It
is too expensive. With him it is a matter of dollars, and cash out of
pocket for every hunting cat that he tolerates in his neighborhood.
There are two places in which to strike the hunting cats: in the open,
and in the state legislature.

While this chapter was in the hands of the compositors, the hunting cat
and gray rabbit shown in the accompanying illustration were brought in
by a keeper.

DOGS AS DESTROYERS OF BIRDS.--I have received many letters from
protectors of wild life informing me that the destruction of
ground-nesting birds, and especially of upland game birds, by roaming
dogs, has in some localities become a great curse to bird life.
Complaints of this kind have come from New York, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Usually the culprits are
_hunting dogs_--setters, pointers and hounds.

Now, surely it is not necessary to set forth here any argument on this
subject. It is not open to argument, or academic treatment of any kind.
The cold fact is: