CAN ANIMALS COUNT ? 
~KK Y LITTLE readers have heard 
lYl their elders when speaking 
of the Horse, Dog, Cat, and 
other dumb creatures call them the 
"lower" animals. Well, so they are, 
but when you have grown to be 
men and women you may possi- 
bly prefer the faithful affection and 
good comradeship of one of these 
lower animals to the disagreeable so- 
ciety of a cold, mean, and selfish 
"higher" one. Indeed, to learn how 
near akin are man and beast, mentally, 
not physically, men and women of 
large and tender natures have given up 
the greater part of their lives. Many 
stories have been written concerning 
the faithful love of animals for their 
masters, big and little, of their marvel- 
ous instinct and almost human cun- 
ning, but when I tell you that animals 
can be taught to count — and birds are 
animals, too, you know — why, then, if 
you are bright children you will won- 
der, as your elders do, where instinct 
ends and reason begins. However, 
these animals, of which I am going to 
write, may have been more than usually 
intelligent and capable of learning 
where others would not. 
A few years ago a confectioner 
bought a Parrot, and, though the bird 
talked very plainly and volubly, the 
man was not satisfied. He desired his 
bird to display more cleverness than 
the ordinary Parrot, so he conceived 
the idea of teaching her to count. 
Polly didn't take to figures at all; but, 
though she listened with a great deal 
of patience to what her teacher had to 
say she uttered never a word. When at 
length he turned away discouraged, 
Polly croaked, "Shut up, " and turned a 
double somersault on her perch, evi- 
dently very glad indeed that school 
was over. 
Day after day Polly had her lesson, 
but count aloud she would not. Still 
the confectioner didn't give up the 
idea, and one day, to the bird's amaze- 
ment her teacher, at lesson time, stood 
before the cage with a pan of water 
and a whisk broom in his hand. Dip- 
ping the broom in the water and flirt- 
ing the drops over her head the teacher 
said, "One." Giving her time to think 
the matter over, a few more drops were 
sprinkled upon her head, the teacher 
exclaiming, "Two," and so on in this 
way till he had reached ten. This 
method of instruction went on for 
some time; but, though Polly came 
near being drowned in several of the 
lessons, she stubbornly refused to re- 
peat the figures after her teacher. 
Arithmetic was not her forte, and the 
confectioner at length gave up in de- 
spair, very much I fancy to Miss Polly's 
relief. 
A month or more went by, when one 
day, as the bird in her cage was hang- 
ing out of doors, it suddenly began to 
rain. "One," the delighted confec- 
tioner heard Polly say, as the big drops 
fell upon her head, then "two, three, 
four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten," 
in rapid succession. But to the Par- 
rot's vexation the rain did not cease as 
it was wont to do when taking her les- 
son, and every additional drop in- 
creased her anger. Finally she could 
stand it no longer, and in her shrillest 
tones shouted: "Stop it, stop it! 
That's all I know, hang it, that's all I 
know!" 
The confectioner says no amount of 
money can buy that bird. 
The Crow, an eminent doctor in 
