FERRUGINOUS THRUSH. 
237 
remember to have reared one of these birds from the nest ; 
which, when full grown, became very tame and docile. I 
frequently let him out of his cage to give him a taste of 
liberty ; after fluttering and dusting himself in dry sand and 
earth, and bathing, washing, and dressing 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 of mind ; not only innate, 
but acquired ideas, (derived from necessity in a state of domes- 
tication,) which we call understanding and knowledge. We 
see that this bird could associate 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 gullet, and prevented him from 
swallowing it, and that water would soften, and render it easy 
to be swallowed, this knowledge must be acquired by obser- 
vation 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. 
<c 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 extreme pain ; and, upon examination, observed that the 
extremity of the abdomen was armed with a poisonous sting ; 
