Und] AND SYMBOLS. 365 



Unaccountable Blundering 1 . 



The jackdaw in many things is a wonderfully clever bird, dis- 

 playing such an amount of ingenuity in its actions that its 

 rational capacities are evidently very great. But like most 

 birds, however clever it may be, and however admirably it may 

 adapt itself to circumstances, it is sure to break down suddenly 

 in an unexpected manner, and to fail in the easiest part of its 

 task. A jackdaw goes afield in search of sticks, and will spend 

 some time in selecting a branch that will serve its purpose. 

 When it has found a suitable one it flies away to the spot it has 

 chosen for its nest. When taking up the branch the jackdaw 

 mostly carries it by the middle, because it can easily be balanced 

 when so held, forgetting that a branch held crosswise will not 

 enter a small aperture, and accordingly finding itself checked 

 when endeavouring to gain admission to its domicile. It flutters 

 about in great dismay, trying with all its powers to force the 

 branch into the hole, but it never thinks of the simple expedient 

 of taking the branch by the end, and pushing it lengthwise 

 through the entrance, and after wearying itself out in vain 

 attempts, drops the branch and goes off for another. Con- 

 sidering the cleverness of the bird, this is a piece of unaccount- 

 able blundering. Yet, strange to say, it is just that sort of 

 blundering which, even in the human family, one so often finds 

 in association with cleverness. Who has not known a really 

 able university man, skilled in every department of learning, 

 break down in an important affair in consequence of the com- 

 mission of a trivial blunder which it would have seemed im- 

 possible for him to commit. Biography is strewn with the 

 troubles which clever men in all departments have had to 

 endure as the penalty of their being fated to commit some one 

 queer blunder which every one would have supposed them too 

 sensible to even imagine. In every direction one may see a 

 human jackdaw quite baffled by a trifle. H. 







Undeserved Credit. 



Much stress has been laid on the self-sacrifice exhibited by 

 the rabbit when she prepares her cradle for her young with fur 



