Mr Black wall on the Instincts of Birds, 257 



downwards, draws straws lengthwise from the eaves of those 

 buildings which are thatched, in order to pull out the flies that 

 are concealed between them ; and I have seen hooded crows, on 

 the eastern coast of Ireland, after many unavailing efforts to 

 break with their beaks some of the mussels on which they were 

 feeding, fly with them to a great height in the air ; and, by let- 

 ting them fall on the stony beach, fracture their shells, and thus 

 get possession of the contents. Perhaps it would not be easy to 

 select a more striking example of intelligence among the feathered 

 tribes than this, where, on one expedient proving unsuccessful, 

 after a sufficient trial had been made- of it, another was imme- 

 diately resorted to. 



Chickens, in their early attempts to catch flies and other 

 winged insects, shew little or no address, but repeated failures 

 teach them to use more circumspection ; and they soon learn to 

 distinguish between an active vigilant prey, and the inanimate 

 substances on which they likewise feed. This cautiousness of 

 proceeding is clearly the effect of information obtained by ex- 

 perience, and affords an example of an instinctive power being 

 excited to activity by the intellect ; but a still more extraordi- 

 nary instance of acquired knowledge is given by Montague, in 

 the Supplement to the Ornithological Dictionary. This gentle- 

 man observed two crows by the sea-shore employed in removing 

 some small fish (the refuse of a fisherman's net) from the edge 

 of the flowing tide. They carried them one by one just above 

 high-water-mark, and there deposited them under large stones, 

 or broken fragments of rocks, after having amply satisfied the 

 immediate calls of hunger. Now it must be conceded, 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 de- 

 rived from observation and experience only ; because, if it ori- 

 ginated in a blind instinct, it would be common to every indivi- 

 dual of the species, and consequently often displayed ; where- 

 as, although I have seen hundreds of crows feeding in situations 

 similar to that above described, I never perceived any of them 

 resort to this effectual means of preserving their prey from the 



VOL. XIV. NO. XXVIII. APRIL 18tS3. B 



