HOW THE CAT MOVES.

1. Now, Jessie, look at your kitty's feet and see if you can tell us

how she can catch mice and birds so easily.

2. I will try. Pussy has long and sharp claws, but they are drawn back into her foot, so I cannot see them.

3. The bottoms of her feet are covered with a thick skin, so that it does not hurt her to walk over stones and rough places.

4. When I feel of her feet, I find that the bottoms are soft, so that kitty is able to move about without making a noise.

5. When she is hunting, she creeps along so quietly that the mouse does not hear her until she is so near that she can spring upon it.

6. Then her sharp nails come out, as you see in this picture, and the little mouse is

caught by his coat and cannot get away.

7. I see that the nails upon her hind feet are not so sharp as those on the front ones. She does not catch mice with her hind feet, and so only the nails of her fore feet need be very sharp.

8. When pussy runs up a tree, her sharp nails hold on to the bark, and she uses her hind claws as well as the fore ones. This is what I read in a book a little while ago about a cat's claws, and I thought it very strange:

9. "The claws of a cat grow very fast, just as our nails do, and, if the cat did not rub them off, they would grow so long that she could not use them. So, when the cat feels that her nails are getting too long, she scratches something hard until she wears them down to the right length.

10. "You have seen the cat stretching up and scratching the side of the door or a tree: this is the way she has of paring her nails."

11. When pussy is angry or afraid, her sharp claws come out of her foot, and she makes ready to scratch.

12. My pussy knows that a dog is stronger in the jaws than she is; and so, when a strange dog comes about, she gives him a scratch with both her paws, and then gets into some safe place as soon as she can.

1. WHEN Nellie was a little girl, she had a present of a pretty white kitten, which she named Daisy, and the two soon became good friends.

2. While Nellie was at breakfast, the kitten would sit at her side, and once in a while it would reach up and touch Nellie's elbow, as if it said, "It is my turn now." When Nellie walked out, Daisy went along like a little dog, and at night she had a soft, warm bed by Nellie's side.

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3. Little girls used to come and play with Nellie, and Daisy always took a part, and seemed to

enjoy the fun as much as the children did. One of the games was hide-and-seek, and this Daisy soon learned to play as well as the best of them.

4. After this, at any time when Nellie would hide and call "coop," the kitten would jump up and look about until it found her.

5. When Daisy grew up and had a kitten of her own, she taught the young one the game she had learned. The kitten would go and hide and give one mew, and the old cat would search in every corner of the room until she found it.

6. Sometimes the mother-cat would pretend not to see the kitten when close to its hidingplace, and, when the kitten jumped out, Daisy would start back as though scared, just as children often do.

7. Then the two would roll over each other, and race about and have a great romp together.

1. THIS time, Jessie, I wish you would tell us something about the mouth of your cat, if not afraid she will bite you.

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2. No! my kitty will not bite me; she knows I will not hurt her. Come, pussy, open your mouth and let me take a good look at it.

3. I see four long teeth in the front part of her mouth. The two on the upper jaw are the larger, but the two on the under jaw are the sharper.

4. When she shuts her jaws, these teeth would easily go through the skin and flesh of a rat or mouse, and very likely would break its bones.

5. Between these long teeth in front I can count six funny little teeth on each jaw. They