[To THE EDITOR OF THY "SPECTATOR "] SIR.—The following anecdotes of
my duck and cats may interest your readers. We have several cats, one,—' Tom,' is a handsome young fellow and a great favourite from his amiable disposition ; his mother, Minnie,' is, on the contrary, a terrible crosspatch, and growls if only looked at. The wild cats had killed all my ducks except one, and as we are all fond of animals Dilly' was much petted and became very tame. Tom' and 'Dilly' were great friends and had great fun together. Sometimes 'Tom' would be sunning himself on the step and 'Dilly' would come up and walk round, but ` Tom ' looked majestically the other way, when Dilly ' would bite his tail to arouse him ; no notice would be taken for some time, but presently Tom' would turn round and put both paws round Dilly's' neck, and then there would be a fine tussle ; they would roll over, bite, and scratch with the greatest good humour until both were tired out. Sometimes Minnie' would come along and then things were very different. Dilly' disliked Minnie' as much as did everybody else, and cared nothing for her growling and scratching, and there would be a grand fight, sometimes when getting worsted Minnie' would take refuge behind Tom,' but that always enraged Dilly' terribly, and Minnie' got it so hot that her dignity went to the winds and she took refuge in the nearest door or window. I need scarcely say that on these occasions Tom' was too well bred to interfere ; "A fair field and no favour" was his motto, and I really believe he enjoyed seeing his mother punished for the many slaps with which she had favoured him. About a fortnight since we got a couple of companions for Dilly,' and as they came late one evening I left them shut up in the box. Of course, the next morning I expected Dilly' to greet his new friends with delight, instead of which he seemed terrified and waddled off as fast as his legs could carry him, and for some days to introduce them to any spot where he was feeding was the signal for his flight. At last he consented to eat his mealies with the others if I were standing near, int if I moved away he followed at once. Such was the state of affairs when I came away a few days since; no doubt on my return next week I shall find them all
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