A FELINE FISHER.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPEOTATOE.1
Sfu,—The following incident may be of interest to those readers of the Spectator who, like myself, enjoy your natural history papers and letters. Last week when walking near Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight, in a lane which is bordered on one side by a small stream, then swollen owing to recent rain, I noticed a black cat sitting in the road with eyes intent upon the water. I stood still and watched. Suddenly it sprang, "all claws upon the foe," and making a great splash, into the middle of the stream, immediately emerging from its cold bath with a wriggling fish, a trout, think, of about two and a half ounces, in its mouth, and retired behind a hedge, pre- sumably to enjoy a well-earned meal. The deliberate watch- ing of the cat, and the finished nature of the performance, inclined me to think that in this cat's case fishing is no unusual occupation. I have, however, no further information to support this supposition, and several persons to whom the incident has been narrated have expressed surprise that a cat should be credited with such an accomplishment. —I am,
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