CAT— ‘GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 
41 ? 
Mr. James Hutchings writes in 6 Nature 5 (vol. xii., p 
330) an account of an old tom cat using a young bird, which 
had fallen out of its nest, as a decoy for the old birds. 
The cat touched the young bird with his paw when it 
ceased to flutter and cry, in order that, by thus making it 
display its terror, the old cock bird, which was all the 
while flying about in great consternation, might be induced 
to approach near enough to be caught. Many times the 
cock bird did so, and the cat made numerous attempts to 
catch it, but without success. All the while a kitten had 
to be kept from killing the young bird. As this scene 
continued for a long time — in fact, till terminated by Mr. 
Hutchings— and as there does not appear to have been 
any opportunity for errors of observation, I think the case 
worth recording. 
The following case is communicated to me by Mr. 
James Gr. Stevens, of St. Stephen, New Brunswick: — 
Looking out on the garden in front of my residence, I 
observed a robin alight on a small tree : it was midwinter, the 
ground covered with about a foot of light snow. A cat came 
stealthily along, with difficulty making her way through the snow 
until within about three feet of the tree where the bird was ; the 
robin was sluggishly resting on a twig distant three feet from 
the ground or surface of snow ; the cat could not well, owing to 
the softness of the snow, venture to make a spring. She 
crouched down and at first gently stirred herself, evidently with 
the purpose of causing the bird to move. The first attempt 
failed. She again more actively stirred herself by a shaking 
motion. She again failed, when she stirred herself vigorously 
again and started the bird, which flew about fifty feet away, and 
alighted on a small low bush on the northern side of a close- 
boarded fence. The cat keenly watched the flight and the alight- 
ing of the bird ; as quickly as she could cross through the snow, 
she then took a, ; circuit of about one hundred feet , watching 
the place where the bird was all the while, and covering her 
march by making available every bush to hide her . When out of 
range of vision of the bird she more actively made for the fence, 
leaped over it, came up on the southern side of it, and jumped 
on it, calculating her distance so accurately that she came within 
a foot of the bush where the bird was, and at once sprung. She 
missed her prey, but I thought she proved herself a cunning 
hunter. If this case is worth relating you may use the name 
