174: SUPERIOR INSTINCT IN A WAGTAIL. 



It is a good thing this class is rapidly diminishing. Has not superior civili- 

 zation brought in more weakness and eflPerninacy? I do not desire in any way 

 to confound learning with civilization, for that gendereth strength. 



Now some few years ago, a party of young men, on a hazy afternoon, went 

 down the River Crouch, near Foulness Island, Essex, to look after a stranded 

 vessel: they were out some hours, and had provided pipes and refreshment. 

 The mist suddenly appearing to be much denser, they, for their safety, stoutly 

 pulled away to reach home. They were quite unable, from the denseness of the 

 atmosphere, to say whereabouts they were, but they all concluded they were 

 nearly two miles from home. The tide began to rise, and they now found 

 themselves rapidly riding onwards; unexpectedly one of the party cried out, 

 ''see! here's a little bird in the boat!" and there tamely and busily feeding 

 on the crumbs at the bottom of the boat, (the fragments of their biscuits, 

 etc.,) was a little Wagtail. None knew Avhen it entered, or how they became 

 possessed of such a companion; but what pleased them, was its not taking 

 any alarm at them, but gladly allowed itself to be captured. It was certainly 

 very damp, as though it had traversed some distance in the fog, and had been 

 exhausted with its flight, and therefore glad to avail itself of the refuge found. 



They marked the time by their watches, and it tarried with them nearly 

 twenty minutes, hopping very contentedly about the boat; but on a sudden 

 it was off on a strong refreshed wing, and the party, astonished, deplored 

 its departure. About five minutes after its flight, one of the young crew 

 said "hark! there's old Squire ll's rooks!! and, sure enough, it was a true 

 utterance: they knew at once their situation, and soon were in safety. Now 

 the point of the anecdote rests here with me, the very earhj discovery of land 

 and trees by the acute senses of the Wagtail; so readily perceived, and its 

 native haunts at once regained. The great keenness of the bird's vision; its 

 ready perception of its natural locations, certainly rank far above those of man; 

 and teach us, that, though knowledge, an artificial acquirement, dependent 

 on great pains and instruction, may distinguish man from his "living associates" 

 that lack reason; yet that God hath given to the lower orders of life, gifts 

 and capacities that man can never possess, nor deprive them of; save by de- 

 frauding them of their birth-right liberty. 



Let me just add in conclusion, that the Hyaena is a fine illustration of a 

 superior sense and discernment of water in the desert, characterizing him before 

 his master, lordly man. 



Even this last winter, during the snow, the Wagtail, with the Hobins, was 

 a constant visitor for the lavish crumbs we every meal reserved for them. 

 I hope this illustration of the law of compensation, or rather proof that God 

 provideth well for the fowls of the air, according to their respective necessities, 

 is very beautifully exemplified in what I have detailed. 



I would merely add that I received this account of the Wagtail, from 

 one of the inmates of the boat. 



Bawhurgh, near Noricich, April 10th., 1854. 



