DIVIDED ATTENTION 9 



ear was laid back while the other continued pointing 

 forward at the wood. It was as if the hind had said 

 — for she no doubt knew the whistling came from 

 me — " I'm not going to be cheated out of my wood- 

 land sounds any more; I shall keep on attending to 

 them and at the same time keep one ear on you to 

 find out what this whistling means." 



The surprise was that she was able to do such a 

 thing. I had not known that an animal with trumpet 

 ears could use them in that way, receiving impres- 

 sions from two sources, taken in and judged separately 

 and simultaneously, as a bird receives sight-im- 

 pressions through the eyes placed (as in most birds) 

 at the sides of the head, each with its own distinct 

 field of vision. Or as the chameleon, with eyes 

 mounted on rods, is able to keep one eye on the 

 movements of an insect in its neighbourhood, while 

 the other looks at you or at some other object which 

 attracts its attention. 



I soon found that if I refused to whistle as long as 

 an ear pointed back at me, it would at last go for- 

 ward once more to assist the other, and when this 

 happened, and I then whistled again, the one ear — 

 always the left ear — was instantly thrown back 

 again, the other always keeping steadily on the wood. 



This went on until the hind got up, shook the dust 

 and dead leaves off, and slowly sauntered away 

 without even a parting look at the person who had 

 interfered with her pleasure by behaving in that 

 eccentric manner. But she had taught me a lot. 

 Did the hind, I wonder, with its beautiful trumpet 



