THE SPARROW’S POWER OF REASONING.

Kumara Times, Issue 535, 14 June 1878, Page 2

THE SPARROW’S POWER OF REASONING.

]Froni the Hartford Timea]^ ; ; ’, A curious story, illus trative of; the intelligence and reasoning and perhaps of the characteiiistic ■ rascality- j also, of theljttle twittei log mis-caljed, “ English sparrows,” now .so common in . all our principal towns aild cities, is revealed by a friend, who h ad it ffpom the witness himself -.who saw t lie occurfeiice. The gentleman, who re; sides tu New York, had erected, spring,- in his back yard, a large box jfbri sparrows’' ' nests. It was divided into threp/roiws, each containing fdfir •"c [iriipartments.. These were all speedily ' jtalren sioti of by a dozen pairs iof sparrows, and the business of makii ig nests : pro- , ceeded amidst the custom: ny chirruping of these fussy and pugnacikms feathered colonists; Sitting idly at the windoyr one Sunday, watching tlfie birds, the ‘ gentleman «aw one cock-sparrow, come flying to his place with a fine,’,soft, white feather in his bill. The box was so placed that he could ? see; intp the apartments, and he saw |this, bird fix the (father, into an incomplete. nest, •; and fly aiwky. No soone.lr was he out of sight than a female ;Jparrow from an adjoining apartment, who had evi- ." dently seen that into her neighbour’s houste, and 'piffled out and carried off the' coveted feather. Becoming interested, the observer watched the performaiule, expecting to see the little thief cardy prize to her own nest; ■ but : hbre‘’is where she displayed an undatable ‘ reasoning process, and acted on a-cU&r’ conception of cause and effect, making a prudent use of' her knowledge of the character and disposition *of her plundered neighbour."' Shs fie w off with the feather to a neighbouring tree, where shesecurely fastened in an inconspicuous place between two twigs, and thei-e left it.' Pretty soon the bird she had de- . frauded came back with a, straw to add, to his nest. Discovering his loss, he came out with an angiy chirruping that boded no good to the despoiler of his hearth and if he could only 1 find the rogue. His first demonstration was to visit his next-door neighbour, without any search; or warrant. In that abode of peace and innocence he found no trace; o£ the stolen feather, ‘ and as for the actual guilty party, she was hopping innocently ,about, -and loudly demanding--.as far as bird’s tones could be undeiptpod by the man at the window—what was meant by this ungen vary impolite intrusion, into a lady’s bed-chamber, and insisting that she was no such kind of a woman. The cock-sparrow was evidently puzzled.. Unable after a minute search, to fi|nd the lost feather, he at length apparently gave it up, charged to profit]and low,, and. flew, away in search of another.’ The thief demurely waited fill he had; got well off, and then flew to the tree, , the stolen feather, and took !it in triumph to her own nest, ;