FACULTIES OF THE MIND. Q73 
field, some of them may always be perceived on the watch, 
while the others are at work; and these, upon the near 
approach of a man or a dog, instantly give the signal to 
their obedient companions. 
In many cases, this imstinct is not confined to giving 
warning of danger, but prompts to the communication of 
news of food. This is familiarly illustrated in the disinterest- 
ed conduct of the cock, who, upon finding a store of food, 
immediately calls the members of his family to the feast. 
It is, perhaps, by a prostituted use of this instinct, that the 
decoy ducks seduce the unsuspecting flocks into the netted 
ponds in the fenny districts of Lincolnshire, communicating 
to them some prospect of food or shelter, which, when em- 
braced, leads to capture and death. 
In some cases, this affection for the species, while it is 
generally in exercise towards the tribe, is more especially 
directed towards a particular individual. In the human 
race, where this selection is termed friendship, the choice 
is influenced by similarity of pursuits or principles, some- 
times by the habits of acquaintance. Among the lower 
animals, we frequently observe similar instances of the par- 
tialities of friendship, without bemg able to trace them with 
any certainty to their source. 
In some cases, the social affection extends even beyond 
the individuals of the species to those of other species, 
whose organization and habits are widely different. ‘Thus, 
man often forms a very strong attachment to the horse ; 
and the dog, by habit, prefers our society to that of the in- 
dividuals of his own kind*. 

* The late Mr Monrtaeu, in the Supplement to his Ornithological Dic. 
tionary, article ‘‘ Grey Lag Goose,” relates the following singular attach- 
ment which subsisted between a female China goose and a pointer, who had 
VOL. T. s 
