64 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 



secure this fragment also, and as he did so the other 

 crows seized it and flew off triumphantly to the tree, 

 where they ate it amid ^reat hilarity. The dog looked 

 vacant and bewildered for a moment, after which, so 

 says the account, he sat under the tree beneath the 

 thieves and barked inanely. If such a performance as 

 this does not indicate free thought and concerted action, 

 quite independent of instinct, to secure a given object, I 

 am at a loss to understand in what other terms to 

 describe it. 



Thomas Guring writes to the " Gardener's Chronicle" ^ 

 England, 1878, an account, which the editor of that 

 paper vouches for, as coming from a perfectly trust- 

 worthy man, that a number of years ago market day was 

 held every fortnight in the town near which he lived. 

 The town itself was skirted by a " Common " on which 

 fed large flocks of geese. In showing samples of grain 

 and in otherwise handling it, a good deal was scattered 

 about and lay on the ground, affording good picking for 

 poultry. Somehow the geese discovered this, and there- 

 after every two weeks, as regular as the recurrence of the 

 market day, these geese would appear and at no other 

 time. How they contrived to hit upon the right time, 

 with so long an interval between, was most surprising. 

 They could not see the market place from the "Common," 

 for it was in the center of the town, and they had to pass 

 through the streets to reach it. It might be supposed 

 that the unusual number of wagons coming to town on 

 that day, or the smell of the grain, may have guided 

 them ; but that this was not so, was demonstrated in the 

 clearest manner. For on one occasion market day 

 occurred on a holiday, and no market was held. The 

 town was as still as Sunday — no wagons came in and 

 there was no smell of grain, yet the geese appeared as 

 usual, and not finding their usual forage, appeared very 



much puzzled. I can see no explanation of this, except- 



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