272 RABBITS, CATS, AND CAVIES 



the cat, picked her up, and shut her in the green- 

 house. 



I am pleased to say she survived all her risks and 

 died of old age in her nineteenth year, and was well and 

 active till a few days before her death. 



Mr James Kilpatrick tells a wonderful tale of a cat's 

 reasoning powers : 



"I have a cat that is a great bird hunter; a few 

 days ago, while sitting in the porch of my house, I 

 noticed her digging industriously in one corner of the 

 garden. 



" This was an unusual proceeding, so I kept my eyes 

 on her to see what was her object, and was surprised to 

 see her drag out a nice fat worm from the hole. 



" She dug out a couple more, and then carried the 

 wriggling bunch in her mouth to the centre of the 

 garden, where she dropped them down and glided back to 

 a place of concealment. 



"In a few minutes a group of sparrows spied the 

 tempting worms and swooped down on them ; that was 

 the cat's chance. 



" She pounced upon them like lightning, and nabbed 

 one of the party at the first jump." 



Mrs Margaret Peete, of Brooklyn, is the legal 

 guardian of a cat named Pinky, who is nine years old, 

 and came into her possession by the will of her late 

 mother, Mrs Amelia Van Vleck, who died some eight or 

 nine years since. 



In her will, Mrs Van Vleck set aside 200 dollars 

 (40) per annum for the maintenance of her cat. 



