WAYS OF NATURE 



dence of the ordeal it has passed through. In like 

 manner the nature of the animals prompts them to 

 the deeds they do, and we think of them as the 

 result of a mental process, because similar acts in 

 ourselves are the result of such a process. 



See how the mice begin to press into our buildings 

 as the fall comes on. Do they know winter is com 

 ing ? In the same way the vegetable world knows 

 it is coming when it prepares for winter, or the insect 

 world when it makes ready, but not as you and I 

 know it. The woodchuck &quot; holes up &quot; in late Sep 

 tember; the crows flock and select their rookery 

 about the same time, and the small wood newts or 

 salamanders soon begin to migrate to the marshes. 

 They all know winter is coming, just as much as 

 the tree knows, when in August it forms its new 

 buds for the next year, or as the flower knows that 

 its color and perfume will attract the insects, and 

 no more. The general intelligence of nature settles 

 all these and similar things. 



When a bird selects a site for its nest, it seems, on 

 first view, as if it must actually think, reflect, com 

 pare, as you and I do when we decide where to place 

 our house. I saw a little chipping sparrow trying 

 to decide between two raspberry bushes. She kept 

 going from one to the other, peering, inspecting, and 

 apparently weighing the advantages of each. I saw a 

 robin in the woodbine on the side of the house try 

 ing to decide which particular place was the best site 

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