156 ANIMAL ARTISANS 



probably visit their fellows when trapped. The writer 

 once saw an odd instance of this ineffectual concern 

 probably not very deep, for the actors were sparrows. 

 A brick trap had been set in a yard, and a sparrow 

 caught. All the sparrows in the neighbourhood had 

 learnt it, and were sitting in crowds on hedges, 

 cucumber frames, sheds, and buildings, discussing the 

 situation, or staring moodily at the trap where the 

 captive was imprisoned, but quite invisible. Next 

 day a robin was caught, but the sparrows showed no 

 concern whatever. 



This tendency among the wild races finds definite 

 expression among the domesticated animals, though 

 instances are not very common. We have seen a 

 small pig, stuck in a paling through which it had 

 tried to squeeze, assisted by an elder one inside. 

 Attracted by its cries, it took the small pig's head in 

 its mouth and tried to pull it through, in doing which 

 it almost pulled the sufferer's head off. In another 

 case a cat deliberately fetched its owner to assist 

 another cat which was lying helpless in a fit. More- 

 over, domesticated animals are to some extent " pro- 

 gressive," and have realised the notion of common 

 good among other creatures than their own stock. 

 There is a good deal of service and benevolence among 

 very different domesticated animals, especially in the 

 form of protection, sharing of food, and forbearance. 

 Specialised instances in which dogs or cats have taken 

 food to others could doubtless be authenticated, 

 though the writer has not witnessed a case. But 

 there is the strongest of all evidence that they have a 



