The Story of My Cats 



turned to his fish ; who, when carried into the 

 mountain and left in the woods, returned once 

 more. The bag and the swinging round 

 proved of no avail; and the miscreant had to 

 be put to death. I have verified a fair num- 

 ber of similar instances, all under most fa- 

 vourable conditions. The evidence is unani- 

 mous: the revolving motion never keeps the 

 adult Cat from returning home. The popu- 

 lar belief, which I found so seductive at first, 

 is a country prejudice, based upon imperfect 

 observation. We must, therefore, abandon 

 Darwin's idea when trying to explain the ho- 

 ming of the Cat as well as of the Mason-bee. 



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