304 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



I have even seen practical jokes played by a 

 Sheldrake and by a Pigeon ; in the former case 

 the bird, a pinioned one in Ravenscourt Park, 

 London, was being chased by a spiteful Swan, and 

 took long dives to avoid it, the enemy vindictively 

 plunging head and neck under the surface to 

 observe its course ; at first I pitied the duck, 

 thinking it was a new arrival and afraid to come 

 ashore near the spectators, but when it tired of 

 the sport it did so, standing and pluming itself 

 with such nonchalance that it had obviously only 

 been amusing itself at the Swan's expense. 



The case of the Pigeon was even more remarkable ; 

 some very small boys in a narrow back-street were 

 chasing a young street-Pigeon which kept flying 

 hither and thither for a few yards only at a time. 

 I was considering whether I ought to stop them, or 

 let one catch it to take home for a pie as they 

 were not well-to-do youngsters when, to my 

 surprise, as it alighted not far from me, I saw it was 

 not panting or exhausted, and soon after it flew 

 up on to a high roof, showing as plainly as possible 

 that it, as well as the boys, had been enjoying the 

 game. 



I have already alluded to the practical joke of 

 a Carrion-Hawk on an Eagle, and every one knows 

 the inveterate propensity for such jokes in birds 

 of the Crow and Parrot tribes, the last-named birds 

 being particularly apt to use their acquired gifts 

 of speech in this way; every one has heard of a 

 Parrot who calls the dog and then tells it to " go 



