86 



FERRUGINOUS THRUSH. 



" his cage to give him a taste of liberty; after fluttering and dust- 

 " ing himself in dry sand and earth, and bathing, washing and dress- 

 " ing himself, he would proceed to hunt insects, such as beetles, 

 " crickets, and other shelly tribes ; but being very fond of wasps, 

 " after catching them and knocking them about to break their 

 " wings, he would lay them down, then examine if they had a 

 " sting, and with his bill squeeze the abdomen to clear it of the 

 " reservoir of poison, before he would swallow his prey. When in 

 " his cage, being very fond of dry crusts of bread, if upon trial the 

 " corners of the crumbs were too hard and sharp for his throat, 

 " he would throw them up, carry and put them in his water-dish 

 " to soften; then take them out and swallow them. Many other 

 " remarkable circumstances might be mentioned that would fully 

 " demonstrate faculties oimind; not only innate, but acquired ideas 

 " (derived from necessity in a state of domestication) which we call 

 " understanding and knowledge. We see that this bird could asso- 

 " ciate those ideas, arrange and apply them in a rational manner, 

 " according to circumstances. For instance, if he knew that it was 

 " the hard sharp corners of the crumb of bread that hurt his gul- 

 " let, and prevented him from swallowing it, and that water would 

 " soften and render it easy to be swallowed, this knowledge must 

 " be acquired by observation and experience; or some other bird 

 " taught him. Here the bird perceived by the effect the cause, and 

 " then took the quickest, the most effectual, and agreeable method 

 " to remove that cause. What could the wisest man have done 

 " better ? Call it reason, or instinct, it is the same that a sensible 

 " man would have done in this case. 



" After the same manner this bird reasoned with respect to 

 " the wasps. He found, by experience and observation, that the 

 " first he attempted to swallow hurt his throat, and gave him ex- 

 " treme pain; and upon examination observed that the extremity 

 " of the abdomen was armed with a poisonous sting; and after this 

 " discovery, never attempted to swallow a wasp until he first pinch- 



