104 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 8, 1903. 
The Little Zoo. 
Some people call it the zoo-zoo. It is situated in 
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and is so modest and retir- 
ing that you would hardly ever find it if you had not 
been told the way. 
For the iuTorniation of strangers, it may be njted 
that it lies to the northeast of the merry-go-round, in 
a dip in the woods. But the merry-go-round— where 
is that? Well, you do not need to be told; you will 
hear the merry-go-round. It will strike your ear afar 
off — and strike it hard. 
From this grand center of attraction it is only a 
hen's race to the little zoo. I like to stroll there of 
an evening, as I did last evening of all. 
The day had been hot — swooningly hot— but now the 
sun had set and a cool breeze was rustling the trees. 
Under the influence of this the gray wolf got up and 
shook himself; the coyote^i whisked their tails and ran 
about as if in search of a trail; the ocelot stood to at- 
tention v/ith fiery eyes; the two bear cubs cam*^ down 
from their shelf and began to practice climbing; the 
raccoons rolled about in play like jolly schoolboys; 
the foxes sat on their haunches and cocked their ears 
with the most innocent air imaginable; the porcupine 
did <; two-slep with his hind feet while reared against 
the wire grating of his cage; the monkeys cried "Mur- 
der!" and pursued one another from swing to swing; 
the big black bear took to pacing up and down beneath 
the rocks, with his tongue out panting; the buffalo and 
the deer nuzzled in the newly-filled hay-racks; the pea- 
cocks set up a caterwauling among the trees, and the 
eagles clapped their wings and screamed. Only the 
coati mundi seemed indifferent to the change in the 
weather and the approach of night; he lay doubled up 
in the corner of his cage apparently fast asleep. But 
perhaps the coati mundi wasn't feeling well. 
With his back against the bear's cage stood Mike, 
the keeper, chewing tobacco. His mien was that of a 
man taking his ease after a hard day, and I could 
imagine him quoting Spenser to the following effect; 
"Sleep after toyle— port after stormie seas- 
Ease after warre . - . does greatly please."^ 
All day long he had had to be on the alert to kt p 
the children from poking sticks at the animals or fee - 
ing them with candies or other things not exactly sui • 
ed to animal digestion. And the day had been so ho» , 
too. But now the children had gone home and a coo 
breeze had sprung up and life became endurable onct 
more. 
"Well, Mike," I said, after bidding him good even- 
ing, "are you still of the opinion that wild animals arc 
not dangerous?" "I am that," he answered. "They're 
a big set of cowards. But they're treacherou.s, and 
you want to keep the eye in the back of your head 
wide open in dealin' with them, 'specially in the ruttin' 
season. Last fall me side partner, John, and me were 
in the deer yard when all of a sudden the big bull elk 
commenced to stamp and snort and glare at us. 'Clear 
decks for action, John,' says I, 'for there's goin' to be 
war.' The words w^ere hardly out of me mouth whin 
the eUc made a charge at John and knocked him gally- 
v>'est. I had a pole with me, by good luck, and I gave 
the elk a few jabs of it and he retreated a bit, but still 
showed an ugly front. 
"Poor John lay all of a heap, groanin', and I was in 
mortal fear that the elk would charge him again before 
I could get him out of the way. 
"Keepin' my face to the inimy, I backed up to John 
quick as I could and took him in me arms and laid him 
behind a big stump. 
"Not a minute too soon, for the inimy was chargin' 
again. I met him with the pole, but sure I thought it 
was a man-o'war I was tryin' to stop. Well, sir, I 
went over, but as I did somehow managed to catch the 
elk by the horns. I held on till a policeman " 
Here he eagle screamed loudly. 
"Of course," I said, "the policeman arrested the 'elk 
and arraigned him in court. Quite right." 
Mike looked reproachfully at me, but before he made 
any reply a dreadful commotion arose suddenly in the 
buffalo yard. 
"There, that scald of a peacock is at it again!" cried 
Mike, excitedly. "She'll kill him yit, so she will." 
"Kill whom?" I inquired. 
"Why, the buffalo. Didn't she do him up in three 
rounds the other day?" 
He started hurriedly for the buffalo yard, with the 
chronicler at his heels. Arrived there we beheld a 
truly remarkable spectacle. The buffalo, a great moun- 
tain of an animal (he is one of the largest in captivity 
and the pride of the little zoo) was in a rage, with 
head lowered between his forelegs and fire blazing 
from his eyes. Facing him was a peacock, with head 
outstretched snake-like, ruffled feathers and all the ap- 
pearance of a true gamebird with its blood up. 
With a snort the buffalo would make a rush at his 
antagonist; this the peacock w^ould dodge, then with a 
fierce scream would fly up and hit the buffalo in the 
nose with its spurs. 
Mike shouted objurations at the peacock, but I en- 
treated of him t,o be still, and the fight proceeded until 
the buffalo began to get winded, when he turned tail 
and went over to a corner and lay down sheepishly. 
The peacock erected its head, glanced about (as much 
as to say: Is there anyone else looking for a fight?) 
and then marched off with the air of an Egyptian 
queen. It all reminded me of a contest between a 
great stupid man and a subtle, adroit female. 
"I think I know now," I said, "why the peacock's 
feather is worn." 
"Well, you don't find me wcarin' it," said Mike, with 
emphasis. "No, sir." 
"Why," I inquired. 
"Because it's unlucky. I knew a man got run over 
by a trolley car and another that lost all his teeth 
through wearin' it." 
"Are you sure the man that lost his teeth hadn't been 
going to a dentist?" I asked. 
But Mike made no answer, being terribly in earnest, 
and I could not help smiling at his faith in the old 
superstition. It would be interesting, by the way, to 
know the origin of this. Can the evil eye have had 
anything to do with it? 
A brief silence ensued, an occasion for breaking 
which was the appearance of a veritable rara avis, 
namely, a white peacock. This bird was donated to 
the little zoo some time ago by a lady in South Brook- 
lyn, and is an object of much curiosity, especially 
among the fair sex. However, I am apt to think that 
the sight of the bird must cause a little disillusionment. 
When I saw it it looked as if it sadly needed a bath, 
while one of the tail feathers was loose and trailing on 
the ground. But it was interesting to note the color- 
less ocelli and other markings of the plumage. 
Mike told me that the albino, as if conscious of its 
singularity, kept very much to itself among the woods, 
where he believed it had a nest. He set out one morn- - 
ing to find the nest, but the bird, after leading him 
about all day, left him no wiser than when he started. 
"Fox & Peacock would make a fine name for a Wall 
street firm," said the droll Mike. 
There now arose on the evening air a bleating of 
sheep and lambs — what sound more peacefully rural 
and grateful! 
"Ah," cried Mike, "there's little St. Patrick and his 
flock/' 
"Little St. Patrick," alias O'Hara, is the park shep- 
herd (whom I had the honor of introducing on a pre- 
vious occasion to the readers of Forkst and Stream). 
His sobriquet he has earned by reason of his crook, 
and it suits him very well, for his exterior is certainly 
benevolent, if not saint-like, and I am sure he loves his 
flock. 
I followed Mike around to the fold and saw the flock 
filing in. The Iambs are quite numerous this year, 
and among them are a black one and a brown one, of 
strange goat-like appearance, the oft'spring of a Brazil- 
ian dam. 
Now, within the fold is something which caused me 
to start A'^iolently the first time 1 saw it. This is noth- 
ing less than a cage containing a big cinnamon bear. 
What, I thought, if that bear should break loose at 
night? I marveled how the shepherd could rest from 
thinking of the danger which lay so close to his be- 
loved flock. At least, 1 thought he must have horrible 
dreams, and I imagined him starting up at night ex- 
claiming: "The bear — the bear! Save my sheep!" 
I mentioned the matter to O'Hara, and he admitted 
he had thought of the danger, though he wasn't sure 
he had dreamed of it. "But," he added, "sure God is 
good, sir!" Not for nothing has he been called "Little 
St. Patrick!" 
It was beginning to get late. The eyes of the owl 
were glowing like two candles, and the animals for the 
most part, night prowlers though they were, had sunk 
into listlessness or slumber again, mournfully con- 
scious, no doubt, that there was no opportunity for the 
play of their faculties, the doom of imprisonment being 
theirs. 
I wished O'Hara good night and Mike a quiet watch 
and took my way down the hill and through the glen. 
Only the murmurs of waters broke the midsummer 
silence, while the fireflies were flashing in the gloomy 
recesses of the woods. At this hour of the evening 
the scene reminded one of an Adirondack wilderness. 
Frank Moonan. 
The Intelligence of the Wild Things 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
If your correspondents would carefully read my com- 
munications to Forest and Stream they would save 
themselves a lot of useless argument. 
It was claimed in the Atlantic Monthly that "No bird 
teaches its young to fly. No bird teaches its young to 
eat or sing. No bird teaches its young to do any of the 
things which its parents do and did. No animal chastises 
its young." 
These sweeping assertions, if true, would deprive the 
lower animals of aU intelligence, and leave them subject 
to a miraculous power, called instinct, by the man wor- 
shippers. 
Believing fully in the intelligence of the lower animals, 
1 picked up the gauntlet and endeavored to prove that 
animals do chastise their young; that birds do teach their 
young to eat, sing and fly. In no article is it claimed by 
me that birds would not eat, sing or fly without a teacher, 
yet my critics use this as an argument, and one goes so 
far as to claim that I do not believe birds could walk 
without a teacher. Such senseless arguments are not 
instructive and become tiresome with repetition. 
I am also admonished to remember that animals in- 
herit many attributes, which should convince me that all 
necessary to existence are inherited. While I do not 
fully agree with my critics in their claims, I go beyond 
them in accepting some inherited traits. I believe that 
acquired characteristics are inherited, and it would be 
hard tO' find a non-believer in the intelligence of the 
lower animals, who will admit that. Years ago I com- 
batted in Forest and Stream the claim that the daily 
acts of the lower animals was the outcome of a super- 
natural power — that meaningless, illusive shibboleth 
called instinct. 
Long before Buffon was forced to recant his published 
views of nature, the idea, conveyed by the word instinct 
in the English language, was invented to separate man 
from the lower animals. Man possessed a soul. The 
lower animals were soulless, and when an intelligent act 
was performed by one, it would not do to call it reason, 
so the word instinct was invented. 
Webster's Unabridged defines instinct in various terms, 
but he quotes Sir W. Hamilton, and doubtless his is the 
accepted meaning of the word. 
"An instinct is an agent which performs blindly and 
ignorantly a work of intelligence and knowledge." 
This definition covers the ground fully. Now as to rea- 
son. Thought underlies reason. To think is to reason. 
It is a simple matter to understand reason when Ave use 
it in our everyday lives. Three things are necessary to 
human existence. Food, clothing and shelter. With these 
necessary wants in view the farmer reasons over his 
crops and domestic animals. The doctor reasons over his 
patients. The lawyer over his clients and the merchant 
over his ledger, and the end to be accomplished is food, 
clothing and shelter. The lower animals need only food 
and shelter, nature has kindly clothed them. They rea- 
son over the routine of their daily lives as well as man. 
Science teaches us that the power to reason by man is 
dependent on certain wonderful organs. And, strange to 
tell, science teaches us also that the same w^mderful or- 
gans are possessed by the lower animals. Their powef' 
to think, to reason is thus assured. When we see any- 
one of the lower animals perform an intelligent act, why 
not judge it just as we would if it had been performe' 
by a human being? 
I would say to your correspondent, I. W. G., that the 
deposing of instinct, to which I called attention, is not 
the dream of a visionary. It is a fact that scientific writ- 
ers are dropping the word instinct, and are using heredity 
instead. The latter is the better word, for it makes in- 
telligible all that instinct implies without a resort to the 
supernatural. 
Your correspondent, A. H. Gouraud, mentions my boy- 
ish observation of a mother cat's efforts to teach her 
kitten how to catch mice, and then quotes Darwin to 
prove that a kitten will growl over a mouse without a 
teacher. I do not doubt Darwin's statement, but it is 
the exception and not the rule For ten years I care- 
fully observed a cat that belonged in the store where I 
got my breakfast. This cat educated her kittens as all 
cats of my acquaintance did and do, except to catch niice. 
The old cat did not eat mice, did not catch them, either. 
Year after year, having Darwin's statcment in mind, 1 
fed dead mice and live mice to the old cat's kittens. Sonic 
of the mice were from the woods and some were caught 
in the store. The kittens, with a few exceptions, did not 
growl over a mouse, did not try to eat a dead one or 
try to catch a live one. Some of the kittens would play 
with a dead mouse, cuffing it about as it did a spool or 
marble. The old cat, I was told, did not see a mouse in 
her kittenhood, and while in the store was fed niore meat 
then she could eat, so had no appetite for mice. She 
evidently thought that her kittens would be housed and 
fed; and would not be forced to work for a living, there- 
fore she did not teach them to catch mice. The children 
of the rich are seldom taught a trade, and pussy, in not 
teacliing her young to work was following the example 
of the higher animal. 
I had observed cats and kittens from my boyhood up, 
but it remained for this grocery cat to teach me some- 
thing new, in the way of cat communication. 
Usually Mr. Wilson gave the kittens away. A few 
litters were drowned, but when the cat was quite old 
a kitten was selected to take her place in the store. The 
cat and kitten were fed meat every morning at the door 
from a meat cart. The driver of the cart, in return, re- 
ceived a cup of coffee. Cool mornings the cat and kit- 
ten hugged the stove, but when it was time for the meat 
cart the old cat hopped on to a show case, where she 
could look up the street and see the cart when it turned 
the corner. The sound of wheels would cause the kit- 
ten to wake up and look toward its mother. If it was 
not the meat cart approaching, the old cat would lay 
her ears back slightly. The kitten would doze again un- 
til wheels were heard as before. If it was the meat cart 
the old cat would prick her ears forward and the kitten 
would instantly become active. She would rush to the 
door and wait until it was opened. The old cat would 
remain on the show case until the cart reached the store, 
when she would jump down and go to the door, but did 
not get excited like the kitten. 
Now Messrs. Doubters, what are you going to do with 
this case? As it can be proved by many observers, it 
must be accepted and dealt with as true. Let me sum up 
the lesson which it teaches : 
In the cat language pointing the ears backward means 
no. Pointing the ears forward means yes. The arrange- 
ment was thoroughly understood by the cat and kitten, 
and when wheels were heard the kitten looked to its 
mother for information. If the answer was no the kit- 
ten understands its meaning and dozes while the cart goes 
rumbling past. ' If the answer is yes the kitten rushes 
to the door fully understanding that this cart will not 
go past like the other. Here we find intelligence, com- 
munication and reason, and here is conclusive proof that 
the old cat taught its kitten the cat langauge. The kit- 
ten could not have inherited a knowledge of a meat cart, 
even if it could inherit the knowledge of a mouse, as 
Darwin intimates. 
As to signs made by the ears, I remember that in my 
boyhood days a hunter that was called half witted taught 
me that all animals with protruding ears used them to 
talk with. Observation since that time has convinced me 
that the dog, horse, cat, raccoon, fox, rabbit and deer 
communicate with their kind through the motion of the 
ears. 
One more cat story that I have already mentioned in 
Forest and Stream, and I shall drop cats from this dis- 
cussion. 
While going through Mr. Seth Cole's greenhouse with 
Mr. Gilmore, the foreman, I noticed that a cat followed 
us about uttering a most unearthly yowl. I asked Mr. 
Gilmore what it meant. "The cat is hungry," said he, 
"and it has some trouble with its throat, so it can only 
make one cry." I examined the cat's throat and found 
it all right. Mr. Gilmore gave me the history of the cat. , 
He had found it on the doorstep before its eyes were 
open, and had brought it up on milk fed from a tea- 
spoon. The cat had never been out of the greenhouse 
and had never seen another cat. I suggested that the 
cat needed a teacher, and Mr. Gilmore tried the experi- 
ment by putting another cat into the house. Two 
months later I heard the waif mew in the proper cat 
language. The savage yowl had become the gentle mew 
of an educated cat. 
I will now call attention to some of the vagaries of this 
discussion: The hooded chicken is one. Years ago I 
had read the experiments mentioned by your correspon- 
dent, A. H. Gouraud. I do not take stock in any ex- 
periments where the animal is unnaturally handicapped. 
The chick, when unhooded, ran to the hen for food by 
sound, without doubt. It had heard voices when fed andi 
would be likely to associate sound with food. 
Your correspondent, I. W. G., makes much of thci 
bawl of a frightened calf, which brings the nearby herd^ 
to the rescue. Then sums up as follows : ' 
"The newly born calf is endowed with a language 
