THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 173 



Many similar instances are recorded, tending to 

 show that while this instinct is strongest in the female, 

 it is not wanting in male animals, and that even among 

 the fiercest animals the male assists in caring for and 

 rearing the young. 



Eecorded examples are naturally most abundant 

 among domestic animals. Mr. Oswald Fitch writes of 

 a house cat: " It was observed to take some fish bones 

 from the house to the garden and, being followed, was 

 seen to have placed them in front of a miserably thin 

 and evidently hungry stranger cat, who was devouring 

 them; not satisfied with that, our cat returned, pro- 

 cured a fresh supply, and repeated its charitable offer, 

 which was apparently as thankfully accepted. This act 

 of benevolence over, our cat returned to its accustomed 

 dining place, the scullery, and ate its own dinner off 

 the remainder of the bones.^' * 



If the playful character of this action seems doubt- 

 ful, it is certainly present in Bticllner^s narrative which 

 follows: At the mill near Hildburghausen there was a 

 cat that rejoiced in the name of '' Lies." She extended 

 her maternal care not only to little chickens, but to 

 young ducks and other birds as well. Once, immediately 

 before the birth of four kittens, she brought six chicks, 

 just hatched, to the basket prepared for her. She had 

 some trouble in keeping the restless brood together, 

 especially when her kittens came — in three days — but 

 she never relaxed her care for the foster children. On 

 the contrary, she soon brought to the nest three young 

 ducks and a little red wagtail which she took from a 

 nest near by. Her loving care was bestowed impar- 



* Xature. April 9, 1883. See Romanes, Mental Evolution in 

 Animals, p. 345. 



