Hawk, Cat Eat Yard Wildlife

Local squirrels are aflutter and the pigeons are going equirrelly under a combined land-air attack. Behind the disturbance are a large white cat and a duck hawk that uses the Mem Hall clock tower for a landing field.

The Cambridge pigeonry has lost at least 30 of its members since the hawk--Falco Peregrinus Anatum--arrived on October 16, according to a count made by Peter L. Ames '53 of the Ornithological Society. Ames climbed the tower last Friday with the clockwinder to count carcasses dropped by the hawk from the upper roof.

Unavailable for Comment

Cat-watchers were unavailable for comment last night, but the furred marauder has taken a considerable toll. Unlike the duck hawk, which dives upon its prey at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour, the cat relies on stealth. This leaves time for crowds to gather, and nature's drama is sometimes played before large crowds of class-goers.

Not since the days of The Owl has such terror stalked the Yard. That was in the fall of 1948, when local inhabitants were foiled by the A.S.P.C.A. in an attempt to shoot the predator. There have been no reports of such a movement in the present crisis, but armed violence is feared if the raids continue.