Homing. 55 
easily traversed under the guidance of the unerring instinct 
claimed for animals, we must believe them to have wandered 
away and established themselves elsewhere, or to have fallen 
victims to the dangers which beset them during prolonged 
absence from home and deprivation of food and shelter. The 
term “stray cat,” so often heard, points either to a suspicion 
that the animal in question may be actually lost, or that itis not 
endowed with any strong feeling of attachment for a familiar. 
locality, in fact, that it is indifferent whether it returns to its 
former home or not, which, however, is contrary to all experience 
The following letter from a correspondent of the Field, of 8tk 
June, 1878, throws light on the subject that is worth preserving: 
“Like most dwellers in the suburbs of London, I have at 
various times in my life been terribly annoyed by cats, and, 
while quite willing, for the sake of neighbourly good feeling, to 
put up with a good deal in this way, my ‘semi-detached’ was in 
possession of a perfect demon of a cat—a cat that was not only 
mischievous in itself, but the cause of a nightly gathering of 
mischief in my back garden. Not only were my nights made 
hideous, but nothing that came within this cat’s reach in the 
daytime was safe, and its doom was fixed by the following 
incident: One summer afternoon, the children’s rabbits were 
playing on the grass plat, when this demon rushed in among the 
poor frightened things, took one of them by the ears, and 
started off home with it on its shoulders. Of course, a hue-and- 
cry was raised, and poor Bunny’s life spared; but I secretly 
determined to have that cat’s blood, and acted accordingly. 
Perhaps about a week—certainly not more—had elapsed, when 
one of my children ran from the garden to say that W 3 
cat had come back again. I must here say that Master Pussy 
was only supposed to have gone astray, and that no one sus- 
pected a brutal murder had been commited. On receiving this 
information, I gently strolled down the garden, and found poor 
pussy’s place of sepulture undisturbed. I was now curious to 
get a sight of returned Tommy, and in a day or two my wish 
was gratified. I had the best of reasons for knowing that it was 
