1 86 NATURE STUDIES. 



f I have, come and see. Look out of the breakfast- 

 room window, but don't show yourself/ Meanwhile 

 I went into the drawing-room, where Mrs. Puss was 

 busy drying herself before the fire. Catching her up, 

 I popped her outside of the door and ran round to my 

 post of observation. Puss tried the door, and mewed, 

 thinking, probably, some one must be near, and, after 

 waiting two or three minutes in vain, again sprang up 

 the trellis, and renewed her attack on the bell-wire, 

 of course, to be immediately admitted by the delighted 

 maid, who this time did not cross the yard, nor ever 

 again, I fear sometimes to the inconvenience of 

 visitors, if puss was waiting for admission." 



In this case it is possible that the cat may have 

 only discovered by accident that the bell-wire could 

 be reached in the way described. This is Mr. Layard's 

 explanation. He considers that puss, in clambering 

 up the trellis to the house-top, accidentally moved the 

 wire and caused the bell to ring. It seems at least 

 as likely that she noticed the wire moving when the 

 bell was rung, and afterwards deliberately moved it 

 to produce the desired effect. But in either case, it is 

 clear that neither instinct nor mere imitative faculty 

 can explain the cat's action in this case. In passing, 

 I may remark that the imitative faculty, which some 

 regard as a mere automatic quality, seems to me far 

 better explained as the result of reasoning, though, of 

 course, the reasoning is not of a very high order ; an 

 animal seeing a man perform some action, infers that 

 some advantage is to be gained by the action, and 



