174 THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 



tially on the motley crowd of nurslings, and she good- 

 naturedly allowed the little chicks to peck at her nose 

 and eyes. When they grew larger and ran about, they 

 gave their foster mother endless trouble to bring them 

 back and keep them safe, and by their constant peck- 

 ing they made her neck quite bare. Fraulein Johanna 

 Baltz, of Arnsberg, saw a large cat in the house of a 

 friend acting as the protector of five little chickens, 

 whose mother had been lost. The cat warmed and pro- 

 tected the tiny creatures when she first saw them, and it 

 was a beautiful picture to see the cunning little heads, with 

 their bright eyes peering out from under the gray fur. 

 Brehm has a great deal to say about this kind of 

 play among monkeys. An orang-utang that Cuvier 

 used to watch in Paris won the affection of two little 

 kittens, which he often held under his arm or set on 

 his head, although their sharp clinging claws must have 

 hurt him. Once he examined their paws and tried to 

 pull out the claws with his fingers. He did not suc- 

 ceed in this, but preferred to bear the pain rather than 

 give up playing with his pets. A baboon named 

 "■ Perro,^^ that belonged to L. Brehm, brother of the 

 author of Thierleben, showed a strong partiality for 

 young animals of all sorts. " When we were going to 

 Alexandria we had him chained to the baggage wagon, 

 giving him a long enough leash to do anything he 

 wanted, short of running away. As we entered the 

 city Perro spied a bitch lying in her kennel near the 

 street and peacefully suckling four beautiful pups. To 

 spring from the wagon and snatch one of the sucklings 

 from its mother was the work of a moment, but regain- 

 ing his place was another matter. The dog, enraged by 

 the monkey's audacity, flew at him madly, and Perro 

 had to exert all his strength to withstand her attack. 



