ENMITY TO CATS. 
shoulder and accompany her to the street-door, watching with 
intense interest the transfer of the joint from the basket to the 
dish. If it happened to be beef, he would come back screaming 
and chattering with delight, but if it was any other sort of 
meat — especially pork, — his rage was tremendous. “ Too fat ! 
too fat!” he would ejaculate, dashing about like a mad bird, 
filling the kitchen with his lamentations. 
Everything that displeased Bob was “ too fat.” I recollect 
on the occasion of a little brother being born, his (the bird’s) 
extraordinary behaviour. He had hitherto been the pet, and 
now that he saw the whole family neglecting him to caress the 
baby, he sulked and moped dreadfully. At last, when the baby 
was about a fortnight old, and was lying in the nurse’s arms. 
Bob perched on the top of her chan, from whence he regarded 
his rival with a most sinister expression. “ Pretty baby, pretty 
boy, — aint he, Bob?” said the nurse. “Too fat, too fat!” 
screamed Bob, and, flying to the top of the large clock, hid 
himself for the remainder of the day. 
Bob’s greatest enemy was the cat. She was a stout, able- 
bodied animal, and between them there were frequently dreadful 
battles, but Bob was generally victorious, because of his mali- 
cious propensity to fly on to her back, grip fast hold of her 
neck, and peck at her ears. Their mutual bitterness was ex- 
traordinary. The cat would at any time desert its ample dinner 
for the sake of purloining the morsel given to the starling, 
— an injury which the latter had a peculiar way of reveng- 
ing. As sure as ever the cat’s-meat-man made his appearance 
at the area railings, and nobody but the cat and the starling 
were in the kitchen, the latter would hide himself behind the 
window curtain, and bawl out “ not to day,” with so excellent 
an imitation of the maid’s voice, that over and over again the 
meat-man has replied “ Thanky mum,” and trotted off, leaving 
puss dinnerless. 
Bob was remarkably convivial. He was never in such spirits 
as when there was company at the house. He would be “ up- 
stairs and downstairs, and in my lady’s chamber ” all in a 
minute, as cheerful as a cricket, — nothing being “ too fat ” for 
him. H there happened to be a song in the evening, there 
would be Bob on my father’s chair -back, listening to the 
harmony with the greatest attention; and when a stave or 
two had been sung, my father had only to say. “ How, Bob, 
give us the ‘ Miller of the Dee,’ ” the starling would strike up, 
and go through with the tune in the most correct manner. 
53 
