A Kitten at School 



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lar incidents, in one of which a cat scratched 

 up and laid upon the surface decoy-crumbs that 

 had been concealed by a slight fall of new snow. 



Only two blocks away from where I write 

 there lived until recently a tomcat of great 

 size and marked intelligence, who once saved the 

 house from burglary, by recognizing the in- 

 truder as a stranger improperly in the house, 

 and thereupon making such a rumpus as to 

 arouse the family. " If left in the yard," says 

 an account of him in the New York Times, 

 " this smart animal would not stand at the door 

 and mew, as most cats would, but always reached 

 up, and with his fore paws turned the doorknob 

 and passed into the house." 



The comprehension of mechanical appliances 

 like that is often seen in cats. I have read of 

 one that quickly learned to open a hinged win- 

 dow that was fastened with a swivel catch. 

 Many instances are recorded of cats opening 

 doors by springing upon the thumb latch. But 

 success here involves more than the mere de- 

 pressing of the thumb-piece of the latch, al- 

 though this act alone shows close observation 

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