2O4 



NATURE STUDIES. 



the custom of the old birds for many years was to give 

 the young ones some building lessons, and lines of 

 foundation, several feet long, were usually attached to 

 the cottage walls. Some of them served for the com- 

 mencement of nests in the following season, but most 

 of them seemed merely school exercises. If these 

 nets were all done under blind instinct, there is a kind 

 of blindness much like seeing, and it may be doubted 

 whether the mud huts of the poor Irishmen exhibit 

 much more intelligence than the martin's homes. 



HENRY J. SLACK. 



It strikes me that human beings might, perhaps, 

 improve their " intelligence " by trying to acquire a 

 curious habit possessed by some animals, especially 

 the dog. I allude to the way they have of saving 

 themselves up, so to speak, when not on duty, which 

 nearly every one must have noticed, and which the 

 following instance will illustrate : They have, at my 

 father's house, a small black-and-tan terrier, Toby III., 

 who has taken upon himself the duty of escorting all 

 strangers to the door on their leaving the house. On 

 the slightest sign of a departure, Toby, although lying 

 on the sofa snoring and apparently fast asleep, in- 

 stantly starts up in a fearful state of excitement, and 

 with every appearance of undying fury and hatred, 

 fairly screams the visitor out. In less than a quarter 

 of a minute he is once more comfortably asleep. It 

 would be interesting to know how dogs have acquired 

 this enviable knack of disengaging their attention 



