At Home with Wild Nature 



kind of thing holds good amongst wild creatures, 

 and owes its existence very largely in each case to men- 

 tality. 



The ancients appear to have ascribed all kinds of 

 wonderful intelligence to members of the animal king- 

 dom. For example, Plutarch records that: " When 

 geese fly over Mount Zanrus, being afraid of the eagles 

 by which they are attacked, the birds carry small stones 

 in their mouths to prevent them from indulging their 

 propensity to gabble, and thus attract the notice of 

 their enemies." 



I do not know whether a collection of small stones 

 held between the mandibles of a goose would prevent 

 the bird from gabbling, but I am hi a position to state, 

 without any kind of reserve, that a mouthful of worms, 

 grubs, or caterpillars will not debar such creatures as 

 blackbirds, thrushes, larks, nightingales, and robins 

 from uttering their call notes. 



In more modern times the subject of reasoning in the 

 animal world has been somewhat discredited by enthu- 

 siasts publishing all kinds of sensational and badly 

 authenticated stories that would, if true, place the 

 intelligence of birds and beasts on a level with that of 

 man himself. For example, let us take some of the 

 stories of mother birds slain on account of some sup- 

 posed moral lapse. Here is one : A French surgeon in 

 Smyrna took a clutch of stork's eggs from the nest and 

 replaced them by a similar number laid by a barn-door 

 fowl. In due season the chicks were hatched, but when 

 the old male stork saw them he summoned a great 



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