284 INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 



that these birds were aware that the advancing 

 flood would sweep away their prize, unless they 

 conveyed it beyond the limit of its usual rise, 

 or their conduct is quite inexplicable. It is 

 equally plain that this knowledge, in the practical 

 application of which they manifested so much 

 foresight and sagacity, could be derived from 

 observation and experience only ; because, if it 

 originated in a blind instinct, it would be com- 

 mon to every individual of the species, and 

 consequently often displayed ^ whereas, although 

 I have seen hundreds of crows feeding in situa- 

 tions similar to that above described, I never 

 perceived any of them resort to this effectual 

 means of preserving their prey from the en- 

 croaching waters, and I believe the instance 

 related by Montagu is solitary in the records of 

 ornithology. 



This propensity to hide the food it cannot 

 devour is not however peculiar to the crow. I 

 have noticed it in the raven and magpie; and 

 rooks, in the autumn, frequently bury acorns 

 in the earth, probably with the intention of hav- 

 ing recourse to them when their wants are more 

 urgent; but sometimes forgetting where they 

 have concealed them, they germinate, and not 

 unfrequently excite surprise by the singularity 

 of the situations in which they grow, far distant 



