OUR PETS. 77 



had! Fish he preferred certainly, and I should be 

 afraid to state the number of sillacks or trout he could 

 discuss at a meal. But so long as he got quantity he 

 was not in the least particular about quality. He was 

 omnivorous, and no mistake. Nothing eatable, nothing 

 digestible, seemed to come amiss to him, — mice, young 

 rabbits, small birds, porridge, potatoes, bread, seal and 

 whale flesh, being just as gratefully received and 

 devoured as the freshest of fish. One day his break- 

 fast consisted of twelve mice, which exhausted the 

 supply, or I am sure he would have consumed as many 

 more, for he was not half satisfied. Another day five 

 plump starlings, wings, feet, bills, and all, disappeared 

 down his throat with manifest gusto. Eight or ten 

 sparrows were nothing more than a tolerably comfort- 

 able meal for Toby. Once he attempted to swallow a 

 live young kitten, and had half accomplised the feat 

 when the poor little thing was rescued, evidently very 

 much to Toby's disappointment and disgust. 



Toby's favourite perch was the chimney top. When 

 he saw any one coming to the house with a basket, or 

 little boys with a string of small cod, down he swooped 

 with an imperative demand for toll ; and if his obvious 

 wishes were not attended to, he made no scruple about 

 helping himself without leave asked or granted, and 

 the small boys at least were a deal too much afraid to 

 offer any opposition. When Toby was nearly a year 

 old, he was one day surveying the landscape from his 

 elevated perch on the chimney. After considerable 

 meditation, stretching out of his neck, and shaking his 



