April 28, 1858

Edward Howe Forbush (April 28, 1858 to March 7, 1929) was an ornithologist and published a lot of books about birds. E. B. White was an admirer of Edward Forbush. Just to give you a sense of his love for birds, here is a very small sampling of his books:

Two years with the birds on a farm, (1908)
Birds as protectors of orchards, (1908)
Bird-houses, (1909)
Our Friend the Chickadee, (1909)
Winter Birds at the Farm, (1915)
The English Sparrow and the Means of Controlling it (1915)

It is not surprising that this Massachusetts native worked with the state Department of Agriculture and that there was an early acknowledgement of his ornithological expertise. In 1874 he was the Curator of Ornithology at the Worcester Natural History Society. In 1893, he was made Ornithologist to the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture. In 1908 Forbush became the Massachusetts State Ornithologist.

Naturally Forbush had studied cat predation and he titled a book about cats:

The Domestic Cat: Bird Killer, Mouser And Destroyer of Wild Life; Means Of Utilizing And Controlling It (1916) 

We are copying the table of contents below. This gives us a glimpse at one of the early books about cats, and we notice the arguments against felines were fully formed. I do not know how much was really original with Forbush in marshalling the logic of such.  Certainly some of his arguments are millenia old-- like that cats are cruel. The book has 109 pages.

Introduction, ............ 7
Origin, ............. 8
History: ..........10
    The cat in Egypt,.......... 10
    The cat in Asia, ........... 13
    The cat in Europe, .......... 13
Fitness, Character and Intelligence: ........ 14
    Cruelty of the cat, .......... 15
    The cat compared with the dog, ........ 16
    Independence of the cat, ......... 17
    Affections of the cat, . .17
Fecundity of the cat, .......... 19
Natural enemies of the cat, ......... 19
Numbers of cats:........... 19
    Great numbers of vagrant cats in cities, ...... 20
    Numbers of vagabond or wild house cats in the country, ... 22 

    Cats abandon owners, .......... 25
    Owners abandon cats, .... .... 25
    Cats unfed by owners, ......... 26
Habits,.......... 27
Food:.......... 28
    Vegetal food of the cat,.......... 28
    Animal food of the cat, ......... 28
       Destruction of insectivorous birds by cats, ...... 29
          The cat a birdcatcher in ancient times, ...... 30
          The cat a birdcatcher in modern times, ...... 31
          Birds cut by claws of cats may die, ...... 33
          Cat poaching for owner, ........ 33
          Active and intelligent birdcatchers, ...... 34
          Cats enticing birds, ......... 34
          Numbers of birds killed by cats, ....... 34
             Cats versus spraying trees, ........ 35
             Bird slaughter by cats, ........ 35
             Young birds the chief sufferers, ....... 37
             Statements from people in the country, ..... 40
             Cats allowed to roam at night, ..........41
             Correspondents report many birds killed, ..... 42
             Number of birds killed per day, week, month and year,...... 43
             Number of birds killed in various States, ..... 44
     Destruction of game birds by cats, ....... 45
        Bobwhites, ........ 45
        Ruffed grouse, .......... 46
        Heath hens, .......... 47
        Pheasants and partridges, ........ 47
        Snipe, woodcock and other game birds, ...... 48
        The cat on the game preserve, ....... 48
        Number of observers reporting game birds killed, .......40
     Destruction of poultry and pigeons by cats, ..... 49
        Chickens, ........... 49
        Young turkeys, ..... .... 51
        Bantam fowls, .......... 51
        Full-sized fowls, .........
        Pigeons or doves, .........
        Cats eating eggs, .........
     Extermination of island birds by cats, .....
     food — Concluded.
.        Animal food of the cat — Concluded.
          Expert opinions on the cat's destructiveness to birds,  ............58

          Destruction of mammals and lower animals by cats,  ............61
             Squirrels,  ............61
             Hares and rabbits,  ............61
             Moles and shrews,  ............62
             Rats and mice,  ............63
             Bats, ............68
             Reptiles and amphibians,  ............68
             Fish, ............68
             Crustaceans and mollusks,  ............69
             Insects,  ............69
     The economic value of the cat,  ............70
        Economic value of weasels,  ............70
        Economic value of squirrels,  ............70
        Economic value of hares or rabbits,  ............71
        Economic value of moles,  ............71
        Economic value of shrews and bats,  ............71
        Economic value of amphibians and reptiles,  ............72
        Economic value of birds,  ............73
          Species of wild birds reported killed by cats,  ............74
          Cats and insects increase,  ............76 

          Injury by insect pests,  ............76
          Insect pests eaten by birds,  ............77
          Number of insects eaten by birds,  ............78
          Birds save trees and crops from- destruction,  ............79
   Inutility of the cat,  ............80
Animal substitutes for the cat,  ............81
Is the cat a disseminator of disease,  ............82
     Parasitic diseases,  ............84
     Infections from cats' claws and teeth, ............84
       Tetanus or lockjaw, ............84
       Rabies or hydrophobia, ............85
       Septicaemia or blood poisoning, ............86
Means of controlling the cat:, ............87
     Catproof fence, ............88
     Killing the guilty cat, ............90
     Confining or tethering the cat, ............90
     Keeping the cat indoors at night, ............92
     Feeding the cat,   ............92
     Belling the cat,  ............92
     Cat guards, ............93
     Keep only white cats, ............94
     Air guns, torpedoes, etc., ............94
     Electrocution, ............94
     Dogs, ............94
     Training the cat not to catch birds, ............95
     To prevent cats killing chickens, ............97
Legislation for the control of the cat, ............97
Methods of taking and killing stray or feral cats, ............100
Legal rights of the cat, ............102
Recapitulation and conclusion,  ............106
List of those who contributed information, ............109

You can tell a lot from a table of contents. In the above case there is a shriek from someone whose approach to problem solving is intellectual, but whose heart is fixated on the beauty of birds. Perhaps also indignant that more attention is not paid his views. And Forbush came up with an original, original and creative, in my experience, suggestion to fix the problem: keep only white cats.