274 Zoology. 



fidelity the mode in which swallows attack the cat, and the 

 cunning and agility which the cat in her turn evinces, in en- 

 deavouring to catch the swallows on the wing, as they dash 

 by her. I have often witnessed these encounters, and have 

 been much amused in watching a cat of my own, which would 

 lie flat on her belly with her paws extended, and in that posi- 

 tion would, with an agility equal to that of any harlequin in 

 a pantomime, suddenly leap up from the ground into the air 

 full 3 ft. high at the passing swallow. J. D. says that on these 

 occasions he " never knew the cat catch a swallow :" neither 

 did I ever see her do so; but I have no doubt of her oc- 

 casional success, independently of the testimony borne to 

 the fact in the passage quoted in the same page from the 

 Verulam ; for the same cat I have above alluded to once 

 brought to me a swallow alive in her mouth. She leaped up 

 with it to the outside of my sitting-room window (at which 

 she was accustomed to be let in, to display, as it were, the 

 trophies of her victory. Observing that the swallow was 

 alive, I took hold of the cat, and with my thumb and finger 

 opened her jaws, when, to my no small satisfaction, the bird 

 instantly flew away unhurt, and as brisk as ever, twittering 

 its shrill note in celebration of its escape from so perilous a 

 situation. 



The interesting extract from the Verulam, above alluded 

 to, is, in the main, just and true ; but I cannot help thinking 

 the writer is in error, when he states, " the simple swallows, 

 dreaming of no harm, and thinking they can here make a good 

 meal, dip down from the barren air, dart with open bill upon 

 the flies," &c. On the contrary, 1 apprehend the swallows 

 are fully aware of the danger, and do not approach the cat 

 for the sake of feeding upon the flies which may have collected 

 about her, but rather with a view to banter her, and express 

 their jealousy and hatred of a well-known enemy, upon the same 

 principle as they also, as well as other small birds, mob and 

 attack hawks and birds of prey. I think, too, that the writer 

 in the Verulam is hardly borne out by facts, when he speaks 

 of the cat's " unerring success whenever a swallow ventures 

 within her reach."*^ I believe that it is a thing of rare occur- 

 rence for the cat on these occasions to succeed in capturing a 

 swallow ; though, as already stated, I do not doubt the fact in 

 particular cases. I can only say, that, repeatedly as I have 

 witnessed these encounters, I never yet saw the cat actually 

 succeed, not even when the swallows have approached so near 

 as to touch her, as they sometimes will do. 



It is a prevailing opinion, and one which, a priori, sounds 

 plausible enough, that cats which are regularly fed and much 

 petted [parlour boarders, as it were), are thereby spoiled as 



