VAGRANT ANIMALS. 259 



brutes in the yard. They devoured all kinds 

 of food: vegetables, boiled rice, bominy, meat 

 both raw and boiled, and the scraps thrown 

 from the kitchen ; giving the preference to 

 those that contained any fatty substance. 



On one occasion a brood of young with their 

 mother made their escape, concealed themselves 

 under a stable, and became partially wild ; they 

 were in the habit of coming out at night, and 

 eating scraps of food, but we never discovered 

 that they committed any depredations on the 

 poultry or pigeons. They appeared, however, 

 to have effectually driven off the rats, as during 

 the whole time they were occupants of the sta- 

 ble we did not observe a single rat on the prem- 

 ises. It was ascertained that they were in 

 the habit of clambering over fences and visiting 

 the neighbouring lots and gardens, and we 

 occasionally found that we had repurchased 

 one of our own vagrant animals. They 

 usually, however, returned towards daylight 

 to their snug retreat, and we believe would 

 have continued in the neighbourhood and 

 multiplied the species, had they not in their 

 nightly prowlings been detected and destroyed 

 by the neighbouring dogs. 



