246 ANIMAL LIFE 
(Figs. 153 and 154). Young mocking-birds will go into 
spasms at the sight of an owl or a cat, while they pay little 
attention to a dog or a hen. Monkeys that have never 
seen a snake show almost hysterical fear at first sight of 
one, and the same kind of feeling is common to most 
men. A monkey was allowed to open a paper bag which 
1a. 153.—Nestlings of the American bittern. Two of a brood of four birds one week 
old, at which age they showed no fear of man. Photograph by E, H. Tapor, 
Meridian, N. Y., May 31, 1898. (Permission of Macmillan Company, publishers of 
Bird-Lore,) 
contained a live snake. He was staggered by the sight, 
but after a while went back and looked in again, to repeat 
the experience. Each wild animal has its special instinct 
of resistance or method of keeping off its enemies. The 
stamping of a sheep, the kicking of a horse, the running 
in a circle of a hare, and the skulking in a circle of some 
foxes, are examples of this sort of instinct. 
