160 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 



variety of other birds would not be as amenable 

 to the patient zeal of their educators. A long list 

 of birds have been made pets of, but none more 

 prettily than the clouds of doves which wheel 

 about the head of an Equestrienne as she gallops 

 swiftly about the ring of a circus, displaying her 

 supple body in graceful attitudes upon the back of 

 a beautiful horse. One of the quaintest exhibi- 

 tions I ever saw was that of trained geese and 

 herons, whose awkward motions made their little 

 " act " extremely comical. Could some fancier 

 manage to get a company of cranes to execute on 

 the stage the extraordinary dances in which these 

 and some other birds indulge during the breeding 

 season, he would make a decided hit. 



Probably the most satisfactory results of all 

 would be obtained from careful tuition of the crow, 

 which seems to me to stand at the head of the 

 birds in respect to native intelligence ; and it is 

 curious that so little has been done with him in 

 this direction. 



When we come to the quadrupeds, a great field 

 is opened to us ; but the limits of space require 

 me to confine my attention to one branch of their 

 association with man, as illustrating their approach 

 to him in intellectual power and attributes. Let 

 me take, then, the "stars" of the menagerie and 

 variety theatre the "performing animals" of 

 the showman. 



Highest of these in general organization stand 



