64 The Carntvora. 
instinct; but when one sees a dove now buffeting a cat and 
driving it from its food, and anon squatted down before the fire 
in close contact with the cat, and apparently enjoying the 
warmth of his fur, it is difficult to understand how this suppres- 
sion of hereditary antagonism on both sides was brought about— 
for human agency had nothing to do with it. Night after night 
these two strange associates pass together shut up in the kitchen, 
and the cat, who has more than once brought in a large rat, has 
never exhibited any sign of a desire to molest the dove. 
The behaviour of animals when suddenly brought into the 
presence of a picture, or their own reflection in a mirror, is 
always interesting, and would repay more attention than it has 
received. On entering a friend’s house one day recently, I was 
struck by the natural appearance of a tabby cat, in the sitting 
position, painted on a fireplace ornament. On asking my friend 
whether his black tom had taken any notice of it, he replied, 
“Oh, yes, the first time he saw it, he stood perfectly still, then 
crouched and moved slowly to the side of the fireplace, keeping 
his eyes fixed on it, then retreated a little, and after gazing 
steadfastly some seconds, walked under the table and took no 
further notice of it then; though for a day or two he would just 
pause and look at it in passing, as if he had forgotten it until 
that moment.” So far as was known tabby did not attempt to 
verify his conclusions by smelling or touching the picture. 
That the cat has, however, sufficient intelligence to supple- 
ment the evidence of one sense by that of another, appears 
from a letter to Nature, 24th July, 1879, in which a correspondent 
says: “ Many years ago, at Carne farmhouse, where relations of 
mine were then living, the household cat was observed to enter 
a bedroom in course of being spring cleaned. The looking-glass 
being on the floor, the cat on entering was confronted with its 
own reflection, and naturally concluded that he saw before him 
a real intruder on his domain. Hostile demonstrations were the 
result, followed by a rush to the mirror, and then, meeting an 
obstacle to his vengeance, a fruitless cut round to the rear. 
This mancwuvre was more than once repeated with, of course, 
