THE CAT. 249 



to the eagle family, but which make a practice 

 of killing and devouring serpents, have developed 

 special structural peculiarities to enable them to 

 carry on the war without any great risk of death 

 from snake-bite. Compare the secretary bird of 

 South Africa and the long-legged (^ariama of 

 South America with the imperial or golden 

 eagles, and the special structural adaptations 

 which the habit of preying on snakes have ren- 

 dered necessary at once become apparent. A cat 

 lying asleep on some exposed ledge of rock or 

 upon the broad limb of a forest tree would be in 

 a peculiarly defenceless position if swooped upon 

 from above by an eagle ; whereas if it seemed to 

 be a creature of the dreaded ophidian order (and 

 it is chietly when seen from above that a curled- 

 up tabby looks most like a coiled snake), it might 

 frequently escape an attack. 



I admit that there are many objections and 

 difficulties standing in the way of this theory, 

 although most of them tend to diminish when we 

 e.xamine the evidence in the light of evolutionary 

 law. Some ot the animals of the cat tribe bear- 

 ing band-like markings which give the appearance 

 of a coil when the animal is asleep, are so large 

 and powerful as to be totally indifferent to the 



