GOATS. 
337 
and in raising his head the jerk would have produced 
considerable pain. In order to avoid this the animal has 
the sense to put his horn through the lower ring, and thus 
avoid the inconvenience he is put to. I have seen him 
do this in a very deliberate manner, putting his head on 
one side while he got his horn through the ring, and then 
shaking his head till the ring rested at the bottom of the 
horn. 5 1 
The following is quoted from Mrs. Lee’s 6 Anecdotes 9 
(p. 366), and is rendered credible not only because her 
own observations are generally good, but also because 
we shall subsequently find unquestionable evidence of the 
display of similar intelligence by cats : — 
A goat and her kids frequented a square in which I once lived, 
and were often fed by myself and servants — a circumstance which 
would have made no impression, had I not heard a thumping 
at the hall door, which arose from the buttings of the goat when 
the food was not forthcoming, and whose example was followed 
by the two little things. After a time this remained unheeded, 
and, to our great astonishment, one day the area bell used by 
the tradespeople, the wire of which passed by the side of one of 
the railings, was sounded. The cook answered it, but no one 
was there save the goat and kids, with their heads bent down 
towards the kitchen window. It was thought that some boy 
had rung for them ; but they were watched, and the old goat 
was seen to hook one of her horns into the wire and pull it. 
This is too much like reason to be ascribed to mere instinct. 
P. Wakefield, in his 6 Instinct Displayed,’ 2 gives two 
separate cases of an intelligent manoeuvre performed by 
goats. On both occasions two goats met on a ridge of 
rock with a precipice on each side, and too narrow to 
admit of their passing one another. One of these cases 
occurred on the ramparts of Plymouth Citadel, and was 
witnessed by 6 many persons ; ’ the other took place at 
Ardenglass, in Ireland. 4 In both these instances the 
animals looked at each other for some time, as if they 
were considering their situation, and deliberating what 
was best to be done in the emergency.’ In each case one 
of the goats then 6 knelt down with great caution, and 
1 Thid., pp. 226-7. 
2 Pp. 66 and 97. 
