BIRD PROBLEMS 219 



the pressure of the bird standing on the rail in front 

 of the trough. A water-hen observing this went and 

 stood upon the rail as soon as a pheasant had quitted 

 it; but its weight being insufficient to raise the lid, 

 so as to enable it to get at the corn, the bird kept 

 jumping on the rail to give additional impetus to its 

 weight; this partially succeeded, but not to the 

 satisfaction of the sagacious bird. Accordingly 

 it went off, and returning with a bird of its own 

 species, the united weight of the two had the desired 

 effect and the successful pair enjoyed the benefit 

 of their ingenuity. This anecdote contains a 

 suggestion of something like reasoning. 



Some of our English hawks have the habit of 

 following closely in the track of a moving train 

 and keeping a sharp lookout for any birds which 

 may be put away. This they continue for miles; 

 and a pair of birds have been seen hawking in 

 consort, and keeping a sharp lookout on each side 

 the track. Large hunting hawks in India obtain 

 their quarry in the same way; and this method is 

 almost essential, as here, owing to the heat, game 

 lies closely. 



Almost a parallel to these cases is offered by 

 another bird of prey, only under widely different 

 conditions. This is the great snowy owl of the 

 Arctic regions, which has been known to watch the 

 ptarmigan-shooters a whole day for the purpose of 



