34 5 2 Quadrupeds . 



mosquitoes, ever ready to pounce upon any unfortunate intruder upon their domain. 

 At length, however, after much tedious wading-, the monotony varied by occasionally 

 finding one leg stuck fast in the mud up to the knee and the other entangled among 

 the mangrove-roots, one manages to scramble through to the other side. But his 

 friends the mosquitoes are by no means inclined to leave him. Face, hands, and 

 every vulnerable part of his body, are covered with them, and he quickly finds that 

 even his clothing affords no protection from their bites. Nor are mosquitoes in Aus- 

 tralia confined to the tropics. Even in Sydney, a new arrival from Europe during 

 warm weather is not long before he is claimed by them as an acquaintance. One has 

 only to look up to the ceiling of any room in New South Wales, during the summer 

 months, to observe it dotted over with these insects, gorged with their repast of the 

 preceding night, and only awaiting the approach of darkness to take wing and search 

 for any opening in the gauze mosquito-curtains of the bed, and then wo be to the ten- 

 der-skinned human occupant not yet acclimatized. Next morning he finds his face 

 glowing like a furnace, unsymmetrically swollen, and ornamented with sundry red 

 pimples arranged in various patterns, the work of real aboriginal artists. In conclu- 

 sion, T may adJ that the Australian mosquitoes (for there are many species) are bred 

 in stagnant water of every description, in which they pass their several stages of larva 

 and pupa. As many broods are produced in a season, even a barrel of rain water kept 

 about a house is sufficient to furnish a constant supply of these troublesome creatures. 

 — John MacGillivray ; March 12, 1852. 



Singular Habit of a Cat. — A relation of mine possesses a cat, which has a most 

 extraordinary habit. When a saucer of milk is given to it in the kitchen every morn- 

 ing, .this refined cat will not lap it with her tongue, after the orthodox custom of tats, 

 but using her paw as a spoon, dips it into the milk, and so conveys it to her mouth, , 

 thus sipping her breakfast in a very dignified manner. Now, what can be the cause 

 of this most strange habit of the cat? I have heard it much discussed and speculated ) 

 on, and many quaint and improbable solutions of the mystery given, but as yet nothing 

 at all satisfactory to my mind. At first I thought the poor cat must have a sore tongue, 

 or that its lips or mouth were out of order, and that it might be painful to her to lap ; 

 but upon inquiry I learned that this very ingenious theory must fall to the ground, as 

 the cat would sometimes vary her mode of drinking, by lapping after the usual man- 

 ner of cats, though her general habit was to lick the milk from her paw previously dip- 

 ped in the saucer, as I have above described. Other ingenious persons have suggested 

 that the cat must have imitated the servants, and learned from them whilst at tea the 

 fashionable use of the spoon ; but there are strong objections to this argument : for, in 

 the first place, the cat is not an imitative animal, and Ave can hardly give her credit 

 for such instinct, or reason, or whatever it may be called : and again, we all know af- 

 ter what fashion servants drink tea, namely, by pouring it into the saucer, and thence 

 rather imitating a cat in lapping it up, than vice vers A ,■ at least this was the custom 

 in my nursery days. I shall be glad if any one can offer a reasonable conjecture why 

 this cat should adopt so strange a method at its meals. — Alfred Charles Smith ; Old 

 Park, Devizes, March 18, 1M.VJ. 



Note on the Habits of Ferrets. — Having for some years past kept ferrets for destroy- 

 ing rats on the premises where 1 lived, 1 have had an opportunity of observing their 



