120 EYE-BEAMS 



and purposes are attributed to the wild creatures 

 which are quite beyond them. Some people in 

 town saw an English sparrow tangled up in a 

 horsehair, and suspended from a tree, with 

 other sparrows fluttering and chattering about 

 it They concluded at once that the sparrows 

 had executed one of their number, doubtless 

 for some crime. I have several times seen 

 sparrows suspended in this way about their 

 nesting and roosting places. Acciients happen 

 to birds as well as to other folks. But they 

 do not yet imitate us in the matter of capital 

 punishment. 



One day I saw a little bush sparrow flutter- 

 ing along in the grass, disabled in some way, 

 and a large number of its mates flitting and 

 calling about it. I captured the bird, and in 

 doing so, its struggles in my hand broke the 

 bond that held it — some kind of web or silken 

 insect thread that tied together the quills of 

 one wing. When I let it fly away all its mates 

 followed it as if wondering at the miracle that 

 had been wrought. They no doubt experi- 

 enced some sort of emotion. Birds sympathize 

 with each other in their distress, and will make 

 common cause against an enemy. Crows will 

 pursue and fight a tame crow. They seem to 

 look upon him as an alien and an enemy. He 

 is never so shapely and bright and polished as 

 his wild brother. He is more or less demoral- 

 ized, and has lost caste. Probably a pack of 

 wolves would in the same way destroy a tame 

 wolf, should such an one appear in their midst 



