THE ANIMAL SENSE OF HUMOUR 71 



peculiar and unpleasant form of humour which con- 

 sists in inflicting annoyance and mortification on 

 others. Instances of this indulgence in its crudest 

 form must be familiar to most observers. Given a 

 cow lying down and comfortably chewing the cud, 

 there is hardly a fox-terrier living which can resist 

 the temptation of rushing up and barking at its nose, 

 until the persecuted animal forsakes comfort and 

 repose, and rises awkwardly to its feet to drive off 

 the tormenter. ' Monkey tricks ' have passed into 

 a proverb for the description of this side of humour, 

 though not every monkey is so clever as the ape 

 which was seen to pass its hand behind the back of 

 a friend in order to tweak the tail of a third, whose 

 resentment naturally fell upon its nearest neighbour. 

 But all the cleverest species of birds and animals 

 seem to share the unholy amusement which the 

 light annoyance not the permanent injury of others 

 affords. A jackdaw of the writer's acquaintance had 

 an ingenious method of tormenting the numerous 

 dogs of the establishment, which was most comic to 

 behold, and which owed something of its finish to a 

 more artistic conception of the humorous side of 

 teasing than most jackdaws are credited with. It 

 was an extremely hot summer, and the dogs, of 

 which there were three, spent the greater part of the 

 day dozing peacefully on the lawn. Being all either 



