36 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PLA Y 



mainly due, not to the pressure of hunger, or the 

 pressure of food in particular places, but to their 

 love of society. In late summer and harvest time, 

 when the face of the country is one broad table of 

 food for ' the birds, they flock together solely for 

 the sake of company. Recently the writer 

 watched a vast flock of jackdaws, rooks and 

 starlings, feeding on one of a long line of fields 

 of newly - cut wheat. It was late in the afternoon, 

 and another flock of starlings soon passed overhead, 

 on their way to a distant roosting-place. As the 

 sound of rushing wings reached them, the starlings 

 on the ground rose at once, and flew up to meet 

 the travellers. Some invitation was evidently given, 

 for both flocks descended to the ungrudged feast. 

 In a few minutes the strangers resumed their 

 journey, but not for want of a welcome. It is the 

 same with the human gleaners in the fields. The 

 love of society keeps the wives and little ones of 

 the hamlet in a flock, and a solitary gleaner is 

 never seen, though the harvest of ears so gathered 

 might be heavier. 



Domestic animals are still more affected by 



solitude than the wilder natures ; for in addition 



to their original liking for their own kind, they 



i are rarely satisfied to remain long shut out from 



intercourse with man. No dog can long endure 



