A VEIN OF HUMOR. 



ELANORA KINSLEY MARBLE. 



NOT only human beings, it is 

 said, but all other animals of 

 earth, air, and water have their 

 play spells. To the question of 

 how man can know this, one can only 

 say that man being also animal, must 

 certainly understand something of the 

 nature of his lower brethren. Our 

 mental composition is of the same sub- 

 stance as theirs, with a certain super- 

 structure of reasoning faculty, however, 

 which has enabled us to become their 

 masters. The various emotions and fac- 

 ulties, such as love, fear, curiosity, 

 memory, imitation, jealousy, etc., of 

 which man boasts, are to be found, 

 oftenin a highly developedstate, among 

 the lower animals, so that it is not at all 

 surprising that among both birds and 

 mammals we find individual species 

 possessing a more or less keen sense of 

 humor. 



The question of why animals play is 

 by no means new to philosophical in- 

 quiry. Herbert Spencer says animals 

 play in their early or youthful stage of 

 life because of their "surplus energy," 

 the same reason that we ascribe to the 

 child, referring more particularly to 

 the strictly muscular plays, in contra- 

 distinction to vocal recreation. An 

 eminent philosopher, however, disa- 

 grees with him in this, contending that 

 play in animals is not a mere frolick- 

 some display of surplus energy, but a 

 veritable instinct and a matter of seri- 

 ous moment as well as necessity. 



However that may be, the fact re- 

 mains that they do play and, as the 

 writer can aver, in a spirit not at all 

 serious, but with all the happy abandon 

 of a child. 



Among the wags of the feathered 

 tribe the mockingbird and blue jay de- 

 serve special mention, though the 

 raven, crow, catbird, jackdaw, and mag- 

 pie may, from the point of mischief, be 

 numbered in the list. In looking at 

 the ungainly pelican one would smile 

 to hear him called a "humorist," but as 

 the seal is the buffoon of the aquarium, 



so the pelican plays the part of the 

 clown in the zoo. His specialty is 

 low comedy and generally the victims 

 of his jokes are the dignified storks 

 and the rather stupid gulls, companions 

 in captivity. The stork's singular 

 habit of standing on one leg affords the 

 pelican a rare chance for a little fun, so 

 he watches until a stork, in a medita- 

 tive mood, takes up his favorite attitude 

 beside the tank. Then up waddles the 

 pelican and, with a chuckle, jostles 

 against him, and sends him tumbling 

 into the water. It is a question whether 

 the stork enjoys the sport, but the peli- 

 can evidently does, for he leaps about 

 evincing the utmost delight, flapping 

 his wings, and squawking, or laughing, 

 in triumph. The gulls he treats in a 

 different fashion. No sooner does he 

 see one seize a piece of bread, or some 

 dainty contributed by a spectator, 

 then up he rushes with a squawk and 

 prodigious flapping of wings, forcing 

 the gull to take refuge in the water, 

 while he with much satisfaction devours 

 the morsel. 



"Our Animal Friends" tells of a peli- 

 can who made friends with a tiny kit- 

 ten. When in a lively mood the peli- 

 can, perhaps recalling how his parents, 

 or himself, in a wild state, were wont 

 to catch fish, would pick up the kitten, 

 toss it in the air, and stand with his 

 huge mouth wide open as if intending 

 to catch it as it came down. Puss 

 seemed to consider it excellent fun, as 

 with a quick motion she turned over in 

 the air, alighting every time uninjured 

 upon her feet; then off she would 

 scamper to the pelican, running about 

 his long legs as though seeking to 

 knock him down. Watching his oppor- 

 tunity he would grasp her again, toss 

 her into the air, and thus the sport 

 would go on till the bird himself tired 

 of it. 



The mockingbird, that prince of song 

 and mimics, possesses a sense of humor 

 highly diverting and very humanlike — 

 the male bird that is, for the female 



