June 6, 1908.] 
Anecdotes Concerning Animals. 
Augusta, Me., May 11 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: I 'have read with much interest the 
opinions that have appeared from time to time 
in your columns, and especially those of the 
persons who adhere to the belief that animals 
do use reasoning powers, remarkable in their 
nature. I wish to add some observations of my 
own, on this line of thought. 
I once owned an Irish setter that I educated 
for retrieving birds, especially waterfowl. Often 
when shooting a duck near the shore of some 
wide stream furthest from me, I have seen him 
take the bird and go on shore, shake himself, 
and then pick up the bird and bring it to me. 
Did he not do as a man would, if tired, and 
why not from the same reasoning process? He 
used to be allowed to take his afternoon nap on 
a bed in an adjoining room at camp, until I had 
my family with me, and then it was thought not 
the proper thing to allow. He seemed much 
disappointed in finding the door shut, and he 
tested the opening of it by striking his feet 
against it, and waiting to see if it would not 
fly open. He succeeded finally in getting it un¬ 
fastened, but not sufficiently to allow him to get 
in. It was opened an inch or so, and after 
standing and looking at it for a while and being 
unable to enter, he deliberately put one paw 
into the slight opening and threw it open, same 
as one would do with the hand and walk in. 
Several times I left the door ajar to test his 
reasoning powers, and he would after that go 
and open the door as readily as a person. Did 
he not reason? 
He was taught to shut the doors whenever we 
wanted them shut, and always when told to do 
so would get behind the door, if it was opened 
wide against the wall, and then push it shut. I 
never knew him to push it the wrong way. My 
camping companion had a spaniel that we did 
not want to take to camp, and when leaving 
home, as we had a drive of several miles, he 
would shut his dog up, with instructions not to 
have him let out for some time after we left. 
In more than one instance, when I had come 
to his house, the dog was not found to shut up, 
and when we had got a mile or more from the 
place, he would be quietly waiting by the road¬ 
side for us. Did he reason that he would be 
shut up, and that he needed to get so far from 
home that we would not return? It looks that 
way to me. 
I was once asked by a neighbor to shoot an 
old dog that had been a pet house dog for so 
many years that age had rendered him diseased. 
I was in his house just before noon, and the dog 
was Iymg upon the floor, when this neighbor 
asked me if I would come up after dinner and 
do this for him. I did not like to do it, but to 
accommodate him, he not being a gunner, I 
promised him I would. After dinner I took my 
gun and went up to his house. The dog could 
not be found. Calling would not bring him, 
though he always before was at the heels of his 
master, and never failed to come when called. 
After much search he was found under the 
end of a long walk between the house and shed. 
He would not come out, and had to be dragged 
out and carried to a place where I reluctantly 
put an end to his life. The owner was deeply 
affected by this circumstance, and had it not 
been that the dog was in such condition that the 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
health of the family required that he be dis¬ 
posed of, I would not have killed him. The dog 
must have understood what was said to me, and 
realized what was to be his doom. Can this 
conduct be explained in any way other than 
that the dog not only understood what was said, 
and then reasoned that he must hide away, to 
avoid being killed? 
Does the red squirrel, which in spring may be 
seen upon the small limbs of a maple tree, cut¬ 
ting into them and drinking the flowing sap, 
reason that by doing this he can quench his 
thirst with this sweetish liquid? I could write 
for hours of incidents of this kind that have come 
under my notice for many years, but this will 
suffice for this time. 
Where does this intellectual process begin and 
end, and with what order of creation? I have 
studied this matter faithfully, and fail to see 
any difference from the human kind, except in 
the quality, and then it is often in favor of the 
lower order of creation. 
E. C. Farrington. 
English Starlings in America. 
New Haven, Conn., May 22.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: A recent contributor to Forest 
and Stream reported seeing a starling at Mil 
ford, Conn., and requested information as to 
its distribution. 
In the September-October issue of Bird Lore 
were published letters from various correspond¬ 
ents concerning this bird. From them it appears 
that the starling has spread from New York, 
where it was first introduced in 1890, as far east 
as Stonington, Conn., (July, 1906) ; as far north 
as Poughkeepsie and Newburgh, N. Y., and 
Wethersfield, Conn., (1906) and southwest across 
northern New Jersey to the vicinity of Philadel¬ 
phia (see Auk, April, 1908). 
Starlings reached New Haven as early as the 
fall of 1900 and are very abundant about the city 
to-day. 
Notes on the starling from Long Island seem 
to be wanting; perhaps some readers of Forest 
and Stream can supply them. 
P. L. Buttrick. 
89 1 
Bluebird Habits. 
Philadelphia, Pa., May 2 y.—Editor Forest 
and Stream: The chief game protector of Penn¬ 
sylvania notes a large increase in the number 
of all song birds except the bluebirds, and in 
this exception I beg to differ with him. 
I am satisfied the number of bluebirds in the 
eastern part of the State is much larger than 
when I was a boy, fifty years ago, but their 
habits have changed and they are no longer 
found around the farm buildings as formerly, 
but must be looked for in localities not fre¬ 
quented by the English sparrow. The latter has 
driven from their former haunts both the blue¬ 
bird and the wren. 
Last summer, in walking through an old 
meadow, I found a rotten stump which had been 
left standing about six feet above ground, and 
in it I found four bluebirds’ nests which had 
been drilled out as nicely as if done by a flicker, 
and all the nests were occupied. The same day 
I found two nests in a decayed apple tree in an 
old orchard and later discovered a nest in an 
old fence rail in a part of the farm which was 
only used for pasturage. 
While automobiling last autumn over a large 
part of the eastern half of the State I found 
bluebirds continually in large bunches, and this 
was particularly the case along the Delaware 
valley. Tohickon. 
Quail and Skunk Cabba ge. 
Sandy String, Md., May 23.—Editor Forest' 
and Stream: I was reading in your issue of 
Jan. 11 the interesting story of “My Friend the 
Partridge,” by S. T. Hammond, who says: 
“No other bird than the partridge feeds on 
this highly seasoned viand” (seed of skunk cab¬ 
bage). 
Last fall while hunting quail with my friend 
Dr. A. K. Fisher we killed several quail in a 
swamp and of course Dr. Fisher had to make a 
post mortem, and we found their crops stuffed 
with the seed of the skunk cabbage. 
I only send this item as an interesting fact, 
not intending to criticize Mr. Hammond in any 
way. H. H. Miller. 
FLYING FISH. 
