196 JUNGLE FOLK 



change in purpose is not due to any command, no 

 sound being uttered previous to one of these sudden 

 impulsive acts. Mr. Selous seeks to explain the 

 phenomenon by assuming that *' birds, when gathered 

 together in large numbers, act, not individually, but 

 collectively, or rather, that they do both one and the 

 other." According to him, the simultaneous acts in 

 these cases are the result of thought-transference — a 

 thought- wave passes through the whole flock. 



Some may be inclined to scoff at this theory, but 

 such will, I think, find it difficult to put forward any 

 other explanation of the difficulty. As Mr. Selous 

 points out, it seems " a little curious that language of a 

 more perfect kind than animals use has been so late 

 in developing itself, but animals would feel less the 

 want of a language if thought-transference existed 

 amongst them to any appreciable extent." Whether 

 Mr. Selous has hit upon the correct explanation I 

 hesitate to say. There is, however, no denying the 

 fact that flocks of birds frequently act with what he 

 calls ** multitudinous oneness." 



