NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 
i53 
We next read that “ most of the cat tribe are consciously cruel,” and that 
“ they delight in playing with their prey,” in reply to which I will quote what 
Livingstone, the great missionary, has told us about his experiences and feelings 
when in the clutches of a lion, which are as follows: — 
“ He caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the ground 
below together. Growling horiibly close to my ear he shook me as a terrier dog 
does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt 
by a mouse after the first shake of a cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in 
which there was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, though quite conscious of 
all that was happening. It was like what patients partially under the influence of 
chloroform describe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife. This 
singular condition was not the result of any mental process. The shake annihi- 
lated fear and allowed no sense of horror in looking round at the beast. This 
peculiar state is probably produced in all animals killed by the carnivora, and if 
so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent Creator for lessening the pain of 
death.” Whether the cat and other animals delight in taking life, I do not 
pretend to know, but if so they cannot be blamed by man, who is certainly as bad, 
or worse, than them in this respect. 
The above remarks will suffice, I think, to show' that Nature is not so cruel as 
is made out in the article by the Rev. E. T. Daubeny, but I am afraid tney will 
not warrant my saying that animals die “ quietly and peacefully nine-tenths of 
them,” as Mr. W. I. Long states in his “School of the Woods,” the last two 
chapters of which throw a good deal of light on this subject. 
Carlton House , Raleigh S. Smallman. 
Herne Hill , S. E. 
4. Competition for Nesting Boxes. — The numbers of nesting boxes in 
my garden are considerable, and though I add to them each year the applicants 
for tenancy in this congested avian district are many and persistent. One of my 
boxes is divided into two tenements, with an entrance at each side. Two pairs of 
sparrows have seized on this and refuse to take notice to quit. For six weeks 
I removed the materials, as much as a handful at a time collected in one compart- 
ment, only to find that next morning it was nearly all replaced. The other 
caused a battle for a fortnight with a pair of great tits, who at last took to another 
box a short way off leaving the sparrows in possession. List year there was a 
contest between wrynecks and sparrows for a favourite box, and unfortunately the 
sparrows won. This year, however, I am glad to find a pair of wrynecks have 
seized upon a box from which they have ejected the sparrows that had been in 
possession for a month. In this single-roomed box two broods of great tits were 
raised last year. 
In front of my bedroom w indow there are three boxes, the centre one of w hich 
was furiously fought for by at least a dozen starlings morning after morning until 
at last the most valiant pair prevailed. The other two, after being frequently 
inspected in a half-hearted way, were abandoned to the sparrows. I have known 
starlings, sparrows, wrynecks, and two kinds of tits take fancy to the same box, 
sometimes one, sometimes the other, prevailing in the end, and causing no little 
amusement while their rivalries went on. 
No bird is more persistent than the sparrow. If a starling walks into his 
holding and turns the contents out the sparrow sits close by, or chases him as he 
flies away, and enters the box again the moment he is gone and repairs the 
damage, though in such a case the larger bird, if in earnest, almost always wins 
the day. 
Sparrows are a perfect pest in this grain district, doing great damage to the 
crops, and hindering the breeding of many useful birds, especially house martins, 
by seizing on their nests. I generally remove the young spat rows from the nest 
just before they are full fledged. By this means the greatest amount of good is 
got out of these “avian rats,” for the food they give their young principally 
consists of caterpillars and insects of different kinds, and after going through the 
trouble of feeding a brood they are not so likely to undertake the work again as 
if their eggs merely were taken. 
One has only to see the numbers of sparrows about here to come to the con- 
clusion that they ought to be kept in check ; and if anybody pitches into me for 
