COURAGE OF FALCONS. 251 



tance out of sight of her master, and misses catching it, she 

 invariably Hies straight back to the place where she was first 

 started. I scarcely know a more pleasing sight than to see 

 the falcon returning with direct and rapid flight, searching 

 for her master in the exact spot, although in a strange and 

 new country, where she had last seen him. If, however, she 

 has killed a prey, this quick return does not take place, 

 and the falconer must follow as straight as he can in the line 

 of her flight ; by doing so he will seldoai fail to find her. A 

 hound, in the same way, after a chase of many hours' dura- 

 tion, if he loses the huntsman, will always return to the spot 

 where he started from. 



The instinctive power possessed by so many animals of 

 finding their way back again, either to their accustomed 

 home or to the place from which they had started, appears 

 almost inexplicable, as in many instances it is certain that 

 they cannot be guided by any sense analogous to those which 

 we possess. Well-authenticated instances of dogs and cats, 

 and horses also, finding their way back from great distances 

 to their home, although the mode in which they have been 

 conveyed from it has deprived them of all assistance from 

 their organs of sight, are so frequent as scarcely to excite 

 attention ; and yet how wonderful must be the intelligence 

 which guides the animal ! 



One of the most unquestionable instances of a cat's 

 displaying this faculty which has come under my own 

 immediate observation was that of a kitten about three parts 

 grown, who certainly had never been in the habit of going 

 ten yards from the house-door. Wishing to get rid of her, I 

 sent her in a bag to a person who lived more than two miles 

 from my own residence. Although the cat travelled over a 

 road perfectly unknown to her, and in a bag, which entirely 

 prevented her seeing anything, she was the next morning 

 purring about as usual, and claiming attention in the kitchen, 

 as if she had never left it. 



Another curious instance of a cat's travelling capabilities 

 fell under my notice. By some means she discovered the 

 place to which her kitten had been taken, more than a mile 

 off; and every night the poor mother went to suckle her 

 young one, returning, when the process was over, to perform 

 the same service to another kitten left at home. In this 

 instance the cat lived in a large town ; through some of the 

 streets of which, as well as a good mile of the outskirts, she 



