The Wit of the Wild 



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foot or more in diameter, suspended upon a 

 branch and involving many twigs and leaves. 

 Into this gray-brown mass the woodpecker bores 

 a hole and then scoops out a chamber large 

 enough for its nesting purposes, while the ants 

 continue to occupy the remainder of the globe. 



The most perfect and mutually beneficial 

 partnerships in animal life, however, are those 

 formed between birds and certain large grazing 

 mammals, for each member is of service to the 

 other. We have a daily example before us in 

 our own country in the way that the cow-black- 

 birds go afield with the cattle and stay close to 

 them as they feed. The profit to the birds is 

 in snapping up the insects the cows flush from 

 the grass as they move about, and the cattle 

 like the little friends who perch so confidingly 

 upon their backs, for they not only catch or 

 dislodge troublesome flies, but pull out of the 

 skin any parasites which may have lodged there. 



[All countries have something like this to show. 

 In Spain jackdaws follow the herds of pigs, 

 and in Central America a certain plover is pro- 

 tected by the people because so serviceable to 

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