SOCIAL OR GREGARIOUS ANIMALS. 189 



ciafion rather necessary then voluntary. For 

 example, instinct-directed fishes may herd 

 together in multitudes without any unity 

 among the individuals ; but in a rookery this is 

 not the case — every individual of the community 

 is known to all the rest, and a stranger is re- 

 pulsed ; yet, although the rook is gregarious, 

 (and we may say the same of the jackdaw,) 

 their allies, the raven, the crow, the magpie, 

 and the jay, are solitary. 



Looking at the animal kingdom as a whole, we 

 should say that congregational habits were most 

 prevalent among the lower orders, gregarious 

 habits among the higher orders, while social 

 habits are allotted only to the few. As ( -.wim- 

 ples of the first, we may cite fishes in genera!, 

 (of which, however, some are solitary ;) among 

 insects, locusts ; and among birds, the gannet, 

 razor bill, puffin, and many other sea birds* 

 As examples of the second, we may instance 

 the rook, the heron, the wild sheep, the spring- 

 bok, antelope, and the quagga of South Africa, 

 for here we find a commonwealth of individuals 

 communicating with each other for mutual 

 benefit, each at the same time acting for itself 

 alone. As examples of social animals, we may 

 cite among insects the honey bee, the ant, the 

 termite, the wasp, and others ; and among birds, 

 the South African weaver bird, (see " Popular 

 Ornithology," published by the Tract Society ;) 

 among quadrupeds, perhaps the seals, the 

 beaver, the musquash, and some few others. 

 As regards solitary animals, we may observe 



