STOKIES ABOUT BIRDS. 297 



reader's permission, I will classify them in 

 telling my stories. 



If I have no other authority for putting 

 them among my friends the birds, I have at 

 least that of the cat in the fable, though I must 

 confess that Puss' judgment, in this case, ought 

 to be received with a good degree of caution. 

 Are you acquainted with that fable, by the 

 way ? I will translate it for you. It is one 

 of Perrin's, and is written in French. This is 

 the English of it : "A cat, having been taken 

 in a trap, promised a rat, who had liberated 

 him, that .he would never eat any more rats 

 or mice. It happened one day, however, that 

 the cat caught a bat in a barn. The old rogue 

 did not know what to do, at first. But he soon 

 made up his mind. ' I dare not eat thee as 

 a mouse,' said he, ' on account of my promise. 

 But I will eat thee as a bird.' With this nice 

 distinction his conscience was satisfied." 



In some parts of Africa, on the coast, bats 

 are found in such flocks, that when they fly, 

 they obscure the light of the setting sun. At 

 the dawn of day, they are seen sticking upon 

 the tops of the trees, and clinging to each other, 

 like bees when they swarm. Europeans, visit- 

 ing that country, sometimes amuse themselves 

 by shooting among these large flocks. 



