466 POWER OF CALCULATION. 



fallen to the nearest bush or nullah, and snarls with sullen 

 and bitter rage, when the attendant approaches to recap- 

 ture and blindfold him.' l 



Birds of prey often ' miss their mark ' in a similar way. 

 Thus a merlin, in pursuit of a sand-piper, missed its quarry, 

 and c the merlin by the force and impetus of its flight plunged, 

 head over ears, into the sea, whence, with draggled plumage 

 and brine-blinded eyes, it arose with difficulty,' its intended 

 victim of course escaping (Stewart). The supposed uner- 

 ringness of aim of the shooting-fish of Java is as great a 

 mistake, on man's part, as is his belief in the ' unerring ' de- 

 velopment of animal instinct in so many other directions. 

 Though the archer-fish generally brings down its prey, it 

 does not do so always or necessarily. ' If this fails .... 

 he repeats his circuit of observation, pauses, again apparently 

 to measure his distance, and then discharges at the fly once 

 more.' He uniformly surveys his prey first, swimming about 

 so as to examine its exact position. 2 



A Skye terrier sitting at an open window on the third 

 storey of a house, in one of the streets of Edinburgh, saw its 

 master pass on the street below. Its master very foolishly 

 beckoned to it ; the poor animal, literally not looking before 

 it leaped, taking no time properly to calculate height or 

 distance, acting impulsively, rashly, thoughtlessly, without 

 reflection, jumped downwards, with sufficient force to clear a 

 sunk area in front of the house, but only to impale itself on 

 the railings that fenced in the said area from the street. 3 A 

 due consideration of the nature of the feat it was about to 

 perform would probably have prevented any attempt being 

 made. 



There is miscalculation of the power of successful defiance, 

 an utter disregard or ignorance of their relative strength, 

 in the bravado of small and weak, before large and powerful 

 animals, even where the smaller and less powerful animal 



1 < Daily Telegraph,' November 19, 1875, describing the Indian Sports of 

 the Prince of Wales. 



2 North British Daily Mail,' December 8, 1875. 

 8 Scotsman,' May 31, 1875. 



