LIABILITY TO ERROR 497 



when they desire to catch land crabs that climb cocoa-nut 

 trees, to bite off the nut, in order that they may feed upon it 

 when it falls to the ground tie a wisp of grass round the 

 trunk of the tree at a great height from the ground. On his 

 way down the tree, after effecting his object, the unwary 

 crab ' as he feels the wisp of grass, imagines he has reached 

 the ground, lets go his hold, and fails to the bottom,' when 

 he becomes the prey of the ingenious natives (C. F. Wood) . 



In many other ways, mistakes are frequently serious, 

 dangerous, or fatal, either to the animals themselves, that 

 commit these mistakes, to their fellows, or to man. In- 

 juries to themselves, or to each other, include 



1. The self-immolation of midges or moths in flame. 



2. The accidental self-destruction of birds, that dash 

 hurriedly, unexpectedly, and with great violence against 

 glass, or telegraph wires. 



3. Death from exhaustion, or inanition, or both, in deer, 

 oxen, and other horned animals from the interlacing of 

 their horns in fight. The poor animals become inextricably 

 fastened to each other, so that they can neither eat nor 

 drink, can do nothing, in short, but slowly die of starvation. 

 The dead bodies have been found, with the horns still en- 

 tangled ; or the living (or rather dying) animals have been 

 seen, standing helplessly, face to face with each other and 

 with death having given up all struggle, in exhaustion or 

 despair emaciated and famished to the last degree, but yet 

 unable, from the peculiarity of their position, to lay them- 

 selves down in their weariness even to die. 



Injuries to man, on the other hand, include, for instance, 

 the accidents arising from shying, or bolting, in carriage 

 or riding horses. 



