146 INSESSOEES. 



cat very plainly, saying, ' Puss ! puss ! ' and then 

 answers, 'Mew ; ' but the most amusing part is, that 

 whenever I want to make her call it. and to that pur- 

 pose say, ' Puss ! Puss ! ' myself, she always answers 

 'Mew,' till I begin mewing, and then she begins call- 

 ing puss as quick as possible. She imitates every 

 kind of noise, and barks so naturally, that I have 

 known her to set all the dogs on the parade at Hamp- 

 ton Court barking; and the consternation I have seen 

 her cause in a party of cocks and hens, by her crow- 

 ing and clucking, has been the most ludicrous thing 

 possible. She sings just like a child, and I have 

 more than once thought it was a human being; and 

 it was ridiculous to hear her make what one should 

 call a false note, and then say, ' Oh, la ! " and burst 

 out laughing at herself, beginning again in quite an- 

 other key. She is very fond of singing, ' Buy a 

 Broom,' which she says quite plainly; but in the 

 same spirit as in calling the cat, if we say, with a 

 view to make her repeat it, ' Buy a Broom,' she al- 

 ways says, ' Buy a Brush,' and then laughs, as a child 

 might do when mischievous. She often performs a 

 kind of exercise which I do not know how to de- 

 scribe, except by saying it is like the lance exercise. 

 She puts her claw behind her, first on one side and 

 then on the other, then in front, and round over her 

 head, and whilst doing so, keeps saying, ' Come on ! 

 Come on ! ' and, when finished, says, ' Bravo ! beau- 

 tiful ! ' and draws herself up. Before I was as well 

 acquainted with her as I am now, she would stare in 

 my face for some time, and then say, ' How d'ye do, 



