486 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 



will not even take a nut from her without catching fiercely at 

 her hand ; he also frequently throws things at her. On the other 

 hand, he allows my mother to do anything with him. 



24th. He bit me in several places to-day when I was taking 

 him away from my mother's bed after his morning's game there. 

 I took no notice, but he seemed ashamed of himself afterwards, 

 hiding his face in his arms and sitting quiet for a time.^ In ac- 

 cordance with his desire for mischief, he is of course very fond 

 of upsetting things, but he always takes great care they do not 

 fall on himself. Thus he will pull a chair towards him till it is 

 almost over-balanced, then he intently fixes his eyes on the top 

 bar of the back, and when he sees it coming over his way, 

 darts from underneath and watches the fall with great delight ; 

 and similarly with heavier things. There is a washhand-stand, for 

 example, with a heavy marble top, which he has with great 

 labour upset several times, and always without hurting himself.^ 



25th. I observed to-day that if a nut or any object he wishes 

 to get hold of is beyond the reach of his chain, he puts out a 

 stick to draw it towards him, or, if that does not succeed, he 

 stands upright and throws a shawl back over his head, holding 

 it by the two corners so that it falls down his back ; he then 

 throws it forward with all his strength, still holding on by the 

 corners ; thus it goes out far in front of him and covers the nut, 

 which he then draws towards him by pulling in the shawl. 

 When his chain becomes twisted round the bars of a ' clothes- 

 horse ' (which is given him to run about upon), and thus too 

 short for his comfort, he looks at it intently and pulls it with 

 his fingers this way and that, and when he sees how the turns 

 are taken, he deliberately goes round and round the bars, first 

 this way, then that, until the chain is quite disentangled. He 

 often carries his chain grasped in his tail and held high over his 

 back to keep it from getting into the way of his feet. He is 

 always rather excited in the morning when I loosen his chain 

 preparatory to taking him to my mother's bed ; jumps about 

 and tugs at the chain. Sometimes, however, if the chain is en- 

 tangled, and I am rather long in getting it unfastened, he sits 

 quietly down beside me, and begins picking at the chain with 



* On subsequent observation (Januaiy 14, 1881), I find this quiet- 

 ness was not due to shame at having bitten me, for whether he succeeds 

 in biting any person or not he always sits quiet and dull-looking after a 

 fit of passion, being, I think, fatigued. He has bitten me often since 

 December 24, and seems to enjoy the fun on the whole. 



2 These heavy objects he overturns with exceeding caution, 

 balancing them several times carefully, and studying them before finally 

 throwing or pulling them over. 



