MEJsTAL POWERS OF BIRDS. 
279 
singled her from all others by swelling out its feathers and 
chattering its bill whenever she came near the cage, whilst 
everyone else was greeted with evident signs of displeasure, as 
evinced by furious attacks, made with the desire to repel the 
intruder. On these occasions the mouth was open, and feathers 
adpressed, the little creature all the while digging at the wires 
and fluttering its wings in evident anger. The moment, how- 
ever, its mistress’s face appeared, all the symptoms of displea- 
sure ceased, whilst the grotesque movements common to the wild 
bird during the love season took their place. These were evinced 
by the little creature swelling out its plumage, as, with tail 
awiy, it fluttered from perch to perch, drawling forth the nature 
notes, or piping the acquired song, which consisted of a bar of 
‘‘ If ever I cease to love.” 
I tried various experiments by disguising the peculiarities of 
dress of its mistress, and introduced a number of female faces, 
but in every instance it recognised that of its benefactor. Now 
whether this lady had any resemblance to its original preceptor 
or not, the fact is that the bird showed considerable powers of 
perception and memory, for even the same face was at once 
known after a week’s absence. The American Mocking-bird 
displays singular powers of distinguishing persons ; I know an 
instance of one of these birds which invariably called to its 
owner whenever his voice was heard in the hall. I possessed 
a Carolina Mocking-bird, the natural call of which is so like 
the mew of a cat, that it is known by the name of Catbird. 
This individual, although reared from the nest, displayed an 
inordinate dislike for cats, whilst a bull-terrier never caused it 
any concern. 
No doubt the higher animals dream, as shown by the tremu- 
lous startings and noises made by dogs when sound asleep ; and 
birds would seem also to possess similar powers of imagination, 
as observed in caged individuals, which may often be observed 
to utter cries when the head is under the wing, and suddenly 
awake, as if the mental image had been the cause. 
Such as the hooded crow and magpie do not break an egg to 
pieces, but make a small hole on the upper surface; and the 
same was noted by me in the case of the pine marten of India 
{^Maries flavigulc^, wYaoh chips an opening just large enough 
to enable it to suck the contents. Now, in all these animals it 
is likely that -the practice was first confined to individuals, and 
through example became general, and may now be instinctive ; 
at all events it would indicate a glimmer of reason. 
The excellence of bird architecture, and the efforts to conceal 
and place the nest in situations where enemies are not likely 
to rob it, furnish beautiful instances of instinctive intelligence ; 
but surely there is also some dread of man or four-footed foes 
