A VEIN OF HUMOR. 
ELANORA KINSLEY MARBLE. 
NOT only human beings, it is 
said, but all other animals of 
earth, air, and water have their 
play spells. To the question of 
how man can know this, one can only 
say that man being also animal, must 
certainly understand something of the 
nature of his lower brethren. Our 
mental composition is of the same sub- 
stance as theirs, with a certain super- 
structure of reasoning faculty, however, 
which has enabled us to become their 
masters. The various emotions and fac- 
ulties, such as love, fear, curiosity, 
memory, imitation, jealousy, etc., of 
which man boasts, are to be found, 
often in a highly developedstate, among 
the lower animals, so that it is not at all 
surprising that among both birds and 
mammals we find individual species 
possessing a more or less keen sense of 
humor. 
The question of why animals play is 
by no means new to philosophical in- 
quiry. Herbert Spencer says animals 
play in their early or youthful stage of 
life because of their "surplus energy," 
the same reason that we ascribe to the 
child, referring more particularly to 
the strictly muscular plays, in contra- 
distinction to vocal recreation. An 
eminent philosopher, however, disa- 
grees with him in this, contending that 
play in animals is not a mere frolick- 
some display of surplus energy, but a 
veritable instinct and a matter of seri- 
ous moment as well as necessity. 
However that may be, the fact re- 
mains that they do play and, as the 
writer can aver, in a spirit not at all 
serious, but with all the happy abandon 
of a child. 
Among the wags of the feathered 
tribe the mockingbird and blue jay de- 
serve special mention, though the 
raven, crow, catbird, jackdaw, and mag- 
pie may, from the point of mischief, be 
numbered in the list. In looking at 
the ungainly pelican one would smile 
to hear him called a "humorist," but as 
the seal is the buffoon of the aquarium, 
so the pelican plays the part of the 
clown in the zoo. His specialty is 
low comedy and generally the victims 
of his jokes are the dignified storks 
and the rather stupid gulls, companions 
in captivity. The stork's singular 
habit of standing on one leg affords the 
pelican a rare chance for a little fun, so 
he watches until a stork, in a medita- 
tive mood, takes up his favorite attitude 
beside the tank. Then up waddles the 
pelican and, with a chuckle, jostles 
against him, and sends him tumbling 
into the water. It is a question whether 
the stork enjoys the sport, but the peli- 
can evidently does, for he leaps about 
evincing the utmost delight, flapping 
his wings, and squawking, or laughing, 
in triumph. The gulls he treats in a 
different fashion. No sooner does he 
see one seize a piece of bread, or some 
dainty contributed by a spectator, 
then up he rushes with a squawk and 
prodigious flapping of wings, forcing 
the gull to take refuge in the water, 
while he with much satisfaction devours 
the morsel. 
"Our Animal Friends" tells of a peli- 
can who made friends with a tiny kit- 
ten. When in a lively mood the peli- 
can, perhaps recalling how his parents, 
or himself, in a wild state, were wont 
to catch fish, would pick up the kitten, 
toss it in the air, and stand with his 
huge mouth wide open as if intending 
to catch it as it came down. Puss 
seemed to consider it excellent fun, as 
with a quick motion she turned over in 
the air, alighting every time uninjured 
upon her feet; then off she would 
scamper to the pelican, running about 
his long legs as though seeking to 
knock him down. Watching his oppor- 
tunity he would grasp her again, toss 
her into the air, and thus the sport 
would go on till the bird himself tired 
of it. 
The mockingbird, that prince of song 
and mimics, possesses a sense of humor 
highly diverting and very humanlike — 
the male bird that is, for the female 
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