CAN ANIMALS COUNT ? 



^K Y LITTLE readers have heard 

 lYl their elders when speaking 

 -*^ *■ of the Horse, Dog, Cat, and 

 other dumb creatures call them the 

 "lower" animals. Well, so they are, 

 but when you have grown to be 

 men and women you may possi- 

 bly prefer the faithful affection and 

 good comradeship of one of these 

 lower animals to the disagreeable so- 

 ciety of a cold, mean, and selfish 

 "higher" one. Indeed, to learn how 

 near akin are man and beast, mentally, 

 not physically, men and women of 

 large and tender natures have given up 

 the greater part of their lives. Many 

 stories have been written concerning 

 the faithful love of animals for their 

 masters, big and little, of their marvel- 

 ous instinct and almost human cun- 

 ning, but when I tell you that animals 

 can be taught to count — and birds are 

 animals, too, you know — why, then, if 

 you are bright children you will won- 

 der, as your elders do, where instinct 

 ends and reason begins. However, 

 these animals, of which I am going to 

 write, may have been more than usually 

 intelligent and capable of learning 

 where others would not. 



A few years ago a confectioner 

 bought a Parrot, and, though the bird 

 talked very plainly and volubly, the 

 man was not satisfied. He desired his 

 bird to display more cleverness than 

 the ordinary Parrot, so he conceived 

 the idea of teaching her to count. 

 Polly didn't take to figures at all; but, 

 though she listened with a great deal 

 of patience to what her teacher had to 

 say she uttered never a word. When at 

 length he turned away discouraged, 

 Polly croaked, "Shut up," and turned a 

 double somersault on her perch, evi- 



dently very glad indeed that school 

 was over. 



Day after day Polly had her lesson, 

 but count aloud she would not. Still 

 the confectioner didn't give up the 

 idea, and one day, to the bird's amaze- 

 ment her teacher, at lesson time, stood 

 before the cage with a pan of water 

 and a whisk broom in his hand. Dip- 

 ping the broom in the water and flirt- 

 ing the drops over her head the teacher 

 said, "One." Giving her time to think 

 the matter over, a few m.ore drops were 

 sprinkled upon her head, the teacher 

 exclaiming, "Two," and so on in this 

 way till he had reached ten. This 

 method of instruction went on for 

 some time; but, though Polly came 

 near being drowned in several of the 

 lessons, she stubbornly refused to re- 

 peat the figures after her teacher. 

 Arithmetic was not her forte, and the 

 confectioner at length gave up in de- 

 spair, very much I fancy to Miss Polly's 

 relief. 



A month or more went by, when one 

 day, as the bird in her cage was hang- 

 ing out of doors, it suddenly began to 

 rain. "One," the delighted confec- 

 tioner heard Polly say, as the big drops 

 fell upon her head, then "two, three, 

 four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten," 

 in rapid succession. But to the Par- 

 rot's vexation the rain did not cease as 

 it was wont to do when taking her les- 

 son, and every additional drop in- 

 creased her anger. Finally she could 

 stand it no longer, and in her shrillest 

 tones shouted: "Stop it, stop it! 

 That's all I know, hang it, that's all I 

 know!" 



The confectioner says no amount of 

 money can buy that bird. 



The Crow, an eminent doctor in 



180 



