The Wit of the Wild 



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tiveness. Thus, as has been intimated, the Eu- 

 ropean rooks heap up in their old nests piles 

 of acorns, bones, potatoes, and whatnot, which 

 they find on the ground in the fall and do not 

 care to devour at the moment. Should the win- 

 ter weather set in with unusual severity, and 

 these birds find themselves unable to obtain their 

 natural insect food from the frozen ground, 

 their hunger leads them to peck at the stuff 

 they have left lying in the old nest, which con- 

 tinues to be a sort of headquarters for each 

 family group. If the hard weather long con- 

 tinues the savings will be mostly or wholly con- 

 sumed. Should the season be open, however, 

 the purposeless " stores " will scarcely be 

 touched, and when the time of " spring clean- 

 ing " arrives, in preparation for a new brood, 

 the neglected and decayed accumulation will be 

 cast out. 



In the case of the store-saving mice, ham- 

 sters, squirrels, and beavers, necessity and ad- 

 vantage have led to a more advanced develop- 

 ment of the habit, until finally it has become 

 an instinct necessary to the preservation of the 



