392 NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



prey fast enough, so he set his feet to work, and grasped 

 with them as many as he could hold. This was not enough. 

 He swept a lot together with his tail, and kept them there 

 close prisoners till his mouth was a little empty, and he 

 had time to catch and devour them. 



15. Jacko's insectivorous propensities were not confined 

 to black beetles alone. Spiders formed a pleasant variety. 

 Not a spider was left alive in the stable where he was con- 

 fined or outside of it ; the most enormous stones would he 

 pick out of the wall with his little fingers, in search of a 

 runaway web-spinner. He was really of great use in clear- 

 ing the house of this housemaid's pest. I often used to 

 put a bit of string to the end of his chain and let him run 

 up the curtains. He would then completely rummage out 

 and devour the spiders, who, having had their webs so fre- 

 quently knocked down by the relentless broom, had thought 

 to spin in security on the top of the cornices and among 

 the curtain-rods. 



16. A great treat it was to Jacko to have a large bowl 

 of warm water given him. He would, first of all, cunningly 

 test the temperature with his hand, and then gradually 

 step into the bath, first one foot, then the other, finally 

 completely sitting down in it. Comfortably placed, he 

 would then take the soap in his hands or feet, as the 

 case might be, and rub himself all over. Having made a 

 dreadful mess on the table, and finding the water becoming 

 cold, the next part of the play was to get out and run as 

 quickly as he could to the fire, where his coat soon became 

 dry. If anybody laughed at him during this performance, he 

 would chatter and grin at them, and frequently even splash 

 water out of the bath at them. 



17. Poor fellow ! his love for a bath one day got him 

 literally "into hot water." The large kitchen-kettle, filled 

 with water, was left on the fire to boil ; Jacko took the 

 lid off, and, finding it warm, sat down, his head only ap- 



