228 NEW ZEALAND NATURE-STUDY BOOK 
The habits of the two animals shew a great contrast. 
The Cat is fond of warmth and likes to lie on the hearth- 
rug in front of the fire or in the sunshine. It expresses its 
pleasure by purring and by rubbing itself against persons 
and places. While it is true that some Cats evince great 
affection for particular individuals, they are as a rule more 
attached to places than persons. When lost, Cats can 
generally take care of themselves, and cases have been 
known of Cats leaving houses when they were well cared 
for and choosing to live a wild life in the bush. 
The feelings of a Dog are expressed in its bark, in the 
way in which it wags its tail, and in the expression of its 
face. Dogs are unfitted for a lonely solitary lite, and when 
left to themselves are apt tolose nerve. They are attached 
to persons rather than places, are amongst the most faithful 
of animals, and have become the companions of man in 
nearly all countries. They are extremely intelligent and 
can be trained to render great service to their masters. 
Many of the habits of these animals are inherited from 
ancestors living under conditions altogether different from 
those of their domesticated descendants, and are to be ex 
plained only by considering the mode of life of their wild 
relatives. The Dog, for instance, turns round repeatedly 
before lying down. This is the remains of a habit acquired 
in past generations, when the Wild Dog, by turning round 
and round, smoothed back the grass and made a comfortable 
place to rest in. Again, the wild relatives of the Cat hunt 
singly or in pairs. The victim, on being killed, is devoured 
at leisure ; hence the domestic Cat’s slow and dainty way of 
feeding. Wild Dogs, on the other hand, hunt in packs, 
trusting to their numbers, speed, and sense of smell, to over- 
haul and kill the fugitive. When the prey is killed, it is 
torn in pieces and devoured greedily, each animal eating as 
rapidly as possible ; for there is rarely enough to satisfy them 
