MENTAL POWERS OF ANIMALS. 363 



the most interesting example of intelligence is shown by these 

 dogs when they happen to discover a rat or a mouse in a place 

 which they cannot get at without help. I have a very vivid 

 recollection of the behaviour of one of the dogs on the first 

 occasion that she came to me for help. In this case a rat was 

 tracked to a large packing-case, which had been stored away in 

 an empty godown. For a long time I heard a good deal of 

 barking and whining going on, but took no notice of it. The 

 dog, on finding that nobody went to help her, rushed into my 

 room suddenly, and began to behave in a very unusual manner. 

 She repeatedly barked, rushed to the door, and then looked 

 round to see if I was following her. I did not at first grasp 

 what all this meant, and tried to pacify her, but as my efforts 

 proved fruitless, I got up and went after her. She ran on ahead, 

 and kept looking back anxiously to see if I followed. On two or 

 three occasions I stopped, but this seemed to excite her more. 

 Guided by her movements, I came to the box at last, and the 

 cause of the whole of this strange proceeding was, of course, at 

 once apparent. Since then these dogs have frequently repeated 

 this behaviour, and, to tease them, I have pretended to walk in 

 a wrong direction. It is really a most curious sight to watch 

 their efforts to try and set me right ! 



Among birds, crows are remarkable for their intelligence, 

 and many stories could be related in support of this state- 

 ment. Large cities, like Calcutta, Bombay, and others in India, 

 generally swarm with the grey- necked variety (Corvus splendens), 

 and from seeing how numerous their nests were (I once counted 

 five on a single tree on the Calcutta Maidan), it struck me that 

 these birds must experience considerable difficulty and trouble 

 in getting together materials for their large homes. My atten- 

 tion, however, was shortly afterwards directed by my friend, 

 Mr. Harrington, to their method of obtaining sticks. The pro- 

 cedure was as follows : A crow would select a dry twig, which 

 was still adhering to the branch, and endeavour to snap it with 

 its beak. If it did not readily yield to this force, the bird 

 deliberately flew against it from a slightly higher altitude, and 

 by the force of it3 momentum invariably severed the twig's 

 connection with the branch. Before the stick had time to reach 

 the ground, other crows, who always seemed to be on the look- 



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