114 DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSTINCT. 



2. Of instincts which can accommodate themselves to pecu* 

 liar circumstances and situations, or such as are improvable 

 by experience and observation. 



* Almost all the instincts of the higher kind of animals are 

 included under this division. There are few of them which 

 are not capable of being improved by education and experi- 

 ence, and this is particularly the case with those of man.' 



The ostrich has been accused of unnaturalness, because 

 she leaves her eggs to be hatched by the heat of the sun. In 

 Senegal, where the heat is great, she neglects her eggs dur- 

 ing the day, but sits upon them in the night. At the Cape 

 of Good Hope, however, where the degree of heat is less, the 

 ostrich, like other birds, sits upon her eggs both day and night. 



Rabbits dig holes in the ground for warmth and protection. 

 But, after continuing long in a domestic state, that resource 

 being unnecessary, they seldom employ this art. 



Bees, when they have not room enough for their operations, 

 augment the depth of their honey-cells. The female bee, 

 when the cells are not sufficiently numerous to receive her 

 e gg s > l a y s two or tnree in each cell. But a few days after, 

 when the cells are increased, the working bees remove all 

 the supernumerary eggs, and deposit them in the newly-con- 

 structed cells. 



When a wasp, in attempting to transport a dead companion 

 from the nest, finds the load too heavy, he cuts off its head, 

 and carries it out in two portions. 



In countries infested with monkeys, many birds, which, in 

 other climates, build in bushes and clefts of trees, suspend 

 their nests upon slender twigs, and, by this ingenious device, 

 elude the rapacity of their enemies. 



The nymphs of water-moths, commonly called cod-bait, 

 cover themselves, by means of gluten, with pieces of wood, 

 straw, small shells, or gravel. It is necessary that they should 

 always be nearly in equilibrium with the water in which they 

 live. To accomplish this purpose, when their habitations are 

 too heavy, they add a piece of wood; when too light, a bit of 

 gravel. 



A cat was known to frequent a closet, the door of which 

 was fastened by a common iron latch. A window was sit- 

 uated near the door. When the door was shut, she gave her- 

 self no uneasiness. As soon as she was tired of her confine- 

 ment, she mounted on the sole of the window, and with her 

 paw dexterously lifted the latch and came out. This prac 

 tice she continued for years. 



