540 (:lueriai and A/isii:r}.s. 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. Queries and Answers. 



Cats possess the Faculty of imitating the Voice ofBirds^for 

 the Purpose of Enticement. — This is an interesting fact ; which, 

 as far as I know, has not been noticed in any work on natural 

 history. It has been previously observed during my life ; but 

 I have at present a young cat, which, placing herself on the 

 window-seat, and watching intently the birds, utters a chirping 

 chirruping sound, bearing a close resemblance to the note of 

 the sparrows, accompanied by a peculiar tremulous motion of 

 the under jaw. It is undoubtedly one of those marvellous 

 methods which the wisdom of the Creator, who " gives to all 

 their meat in due season," has devised for bringing the prey 

 within their reach. That it has not been commonly remarked, 

 may be ascribed to the successful ventriloquism of the per- 

 former. Although some highly accomplished cats have been 

 lately exhibited in the metropolis, people are sceptical as to 

 their musical talents ; so I should be glad to have my state- 

 ment corroborated by some correspondent. — A Bachelor, 

 Lincolnshire, March 24. 1834. [We have noticed, in young 

 cats pursuing a bird in a tree, &c., a tremulous motion of the 

 under jaw ; accompanied by the utterance of a faint cry, yet 

 one denotive of intense anxiety, and, with the gesture, express- 

 ing the sentiment, " Come, let me clutch thee ! " In the cry, 

 however, we have never been struck with a resemblance to 

 the note of a bird.] 



The Water Ouzel. (IL 301. 400., V. 734.; and its song, 

 VII. 183.) — The water ouzel does sing very frequently, and 

 as much in the winter as at any time. Perched on a stone or 

 a piece of ice, it chirps away at a famous rate ; but its song 

 consists almost entirely of its note zeet zeet, which it hashes 

 up in all sorts of ways : lengthening and shortening ; now a 

 crotchet, then a semiquaver ; raising an octave or so, and 

 then descending again ; it makes as much of it as can be 

 made. But, with all its efforts, its song is a very so-so affair ; 

 all its syllables beginning with z, and almost ending with it 

 too. Yet, although it is not much of a songster, it is almost 

 a sacred bird with me, in consequence of the associations 

 connected with it. A pair built for forty years, according to 

 tradition, in a wheel-race near to where I was born ; and had 

 never been molested by any body, until a gentleman in the 

 neighbourhood, who was a great ornithologist, employed his 



