66 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 



The baya bird of India, like our oriole, suspend their 

 nests from a projecting bough, with the entrance down- 

 wards. This is done to prevent their enemies, mice and 

 snakes, from entering them. It is also said that they 

 fasten fire-flies to the outside to frighten off invaders. 

 The tailor bird sew leaves together, using artificial cot- 

 ton when they can find it, and if not, natural vegetable 

 fibers that are suited to the purpose. The beak is used 

 for a needle, or rather an awl. Certain hawks lay their 

 eggs on the bare rock, while the curlew and goat-sucker 

 deposit theirs in the soil. These and other birds will 

 readily use artificial houses, showing that they can 

 change their habits easily, if they can save trouble and 

 better themselves by so doing. Certain varieties of 

 swallows build in chimneys. How these habits were 

 acquired in the first place cannot now be known, and 

 why they should vary so is not always easy to under- 

 stand. That many of these nests display great skill in 

 their construction will not be disputed, while others are 

 such simple devices that they cannot be termed nests at 

 all. They are, no doubt, reasonably wise adaptations to 

 the needs of each bird — liable to be changed, if altered 

 surroundings make change necessary for the welfare of 

 the bird. 



When we come to consider the habits and character- 

 istics of quadrupeds, we find a mass of evidence, con- 

 firming in the strongest way, the existence of intelligence 

 in animals. There is such a variety here to choose from 

 that it is diflBlcult to make suitable selections. 



The beaver, perhaps more than any other undomesti- 

 cated animal — possibly not making even this distinc- 

 tion — gives evidence of possessing the greatest mental 

 power. His habits have been carefully studied by an 

 accurate and scientific observer, Mr. Lewis H. Morgan, 

 an American, who has published an interesting volume 

 on this subject. What he there tells of these animals 



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