274 NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



hunters watched a bird who was obviously beyond their 

 reach. 



9. Champfleury tells us of a cat who used to divide 

 her game between her master and her kittens, only she 

 always brought her rats to the former and her mice to 

 the latter, judging that the larger creature needed and 

 could manage the bigger mouthfuls. My Maltese opens 

 a door which is ajar most judiciously ; he does not put 

 nose or foot into the opening, knowing that the former 

 might get banged and the latter pinched ; he places one 

 paw against the obstacle, braces himself side wise on the 

 other three legs, and so pushes ; the operation is admi- 

 rable for caution and for calculation of the needed power. 



10. In Greenville, South Carolina, I had the honor 

 of knowing a magnificent torn, weighing eight j^ounds, 

 who opened doors by leaping up, seizing the knob forci- 

 bly between his fore-paws, and turning it, his only de- 

 fect in the matter being that he could n t close the door 

 after him. Some years ago a family residing in New 

 Haven, Connecticut, was alarmed by what the servants 

 supposed to be a ghost, and the lady of the house a 

 thief. An outside door was repeatedly opened, no one 

 entering but the cat. In spite of watching, nobody was 

 discovered, and the mystery grew to be frightful. At 

 last the ghost was caught, and it proved to be pussy. She 

 had observed, she had reflected, she had drawn an infer- 

 ence ; in other words, she had performed the distinct in- 

 tellectual operations. The result was, that she knew how 

 to open doors by leaping up to the latch and pressing 

 her paw on the thumb-piece. 



11. Champfleury relates another story which shows the 

 feline power of observation and reasoning. A German 

 baron had noticed that his cat was much interested in the 

 mysteries of mirrors, looking at her own reflection in them, 

 withdrawing, approaching, and scratching at the frames. 



