136 
BIRD-LIFE. 
The Crow would rummage out the pockets of this garment 
whenever she could approach it unseen, and was even 
known to fly right into the stable in search of booty. 
“ This creature, universally detested, was, through her 
uncommon cleverness, an endless source of amusement 
to me, and, as may well be imagined, I was repeatedly 
asked to shoot her: to this request, however, I always 
turned a deaf ear. How could I have the heart to put an 
end to such an amusing companion! I always used to 
think of the old proverb, unfortunately so little acted 
upon: ‘ Little rogues are hung, when great ones get off 
with impunity.’ So I let her live in peace for ten long 
years.” 
I am thoroughly convinced that many similar observa¬ 
tions are made, of which we hear nothing. We are, also, 
still too little acquainted with the mental life of birds to 
observe everything with sufficient care. Truly, indeed, 
must the bird 
“ Wirken und streben, 
Und pflanzen und sliaffen, 
Erlisten, erraffen, 
Wetten und wogen 
Das Gluck zu erjagen” 
to obtain its subsistence. 
Birds, like men, calculate and act in companies. I 
have often remarked Pelicans while fishing, and noticed 
that they dislike working alone, much preferring to do so 
in company. A large number of them unite together for 
a common purpose: they form an extensive half-circle 
across the entrance of shallow bays or creeks, and then 
swim slowly towards the shore, thus cutting off the retreat 
of all fish in the bay into deep water. In the Egyptian 
canals a flock of these birds would separate into two 
divisions, each alighting at either end of a certain length 
