Young boy with hat, proper left arm raised, bird in proper right hand, cat at his feet on his proper left. Boy wearing blue and yellow striped pants.
Currier & Ives often celebrated the role of the cat as a mouse catcher as well as a companion to children. This atypical print illustrates the predatory nature of the cat. A young boy scolds his pet as he holds a bird that the cat has killed. During the late 19th century, a growing awareness of the uniqueness of birds and animals led to the development of wildlife conservation societies and eventually to the 1918 Migratory Bird Act, which protected birds from hunters and collectors.
