THE WILD CAT. 



says it makes great havoc among our poultry, lambs, and kids. 

 It seeks its prey at night-time, the day being its time of repose. 



Shylock. " He sleeps by day 



More than the wild cat." 



(March, of Venice, Act. II. Sc. 5.) 



In woody districts, the female forms her nest in hollow trees, 

 and has been known to appropriate the nest of some large bird 

 to her own use ; but in alpine situations, she generally prepares 

 her cradle in the fissures of rocks. 



" Suspended cliffs, with hideous sway, 

 Seem'd nodding o'er the cavern grey. 

 From such a den the wolf had sprung : 

 In such the wild cat leaves her young." 



(Scott's Lady of the Lake, Canto III. St. 26.) 



She has usually four or five young at a litter 5 and she will 

 fight boldly in their defence. Near High Melton, a village 

 about six miles west of Doncaster, in the county of York, is 

 a wood of some extent, and which, from time immemorial, has 

 been a favourite haunt of the wild cat and also the badger. 

 Many years ago a young man, in passing through this wood, 

 discovered a wild cat's nest in a hollow tree. Without leave 

 or licence, he purloined the contents, which consisted of three 

 kittens. He had not proceeded on his way home more than 

 a mile, when, on turning round, he beheld the mother of the 

 brood mounted on the top of a stile, which he had quitted but 

 a moment before. Her ferocious aspect and appalling cries 

 rendered him fearful of being involved in a sanguinary affray, 

 so he dropped one of the kittens, which she instantly seized 

 and conveyed out of sight. The man then proceeded onward 

 at a quick pace, but in a very short time the affectionate parent 

 was again at his heels, and he was obliged, for peace- sake, to 

 drop another of her bantlings, which was disposed of in like 

 manner with the former. With the third the man escaped. 



The following circumstance, which Bingley published in his 

 Animal Biography, occurred in the same wood, and has been a 

 popular tradition in the county for about half a century. A 

 man, passing through the wood, being attacked by a wild cat, 



