The New Orleans bulletin., 1875-09-26
Birds Stimulating Suffering-Animal In
Stinct

In walking along the side of river will
overhanging banks, l came suddenly on wild
duck (Anas Bosclus), whose young were JUS
| out. Springing from under the bank, she
| huttered out into the stream, with loud cries
and with all the struggles to escape of help
lessly wounded bird.
| To simulate the effects of suffsrings from
| disease, or from strong emotion, or from
| wounds upon the human frame, is @ COM
mon necessity of the actors art, and is no,
often really well done. The tricks of the
theater are seldom natural, and it is not with
out reason that "theatrical has become a
proverbial expression for false and artificial
representation of the realities of life.
II was. therefore, with no small interest
that on this, as on many other occasions,
watched the perfection of an art which Mrs.
Siddons might have envied The labored and
half-convulsive tapping of the wings, the
wriggling of the body, the straining Of the
neck, and the whole expression of painful and
abortive effect, were really admirable. When
her struggles had carried her considerable
distance, and she saw they produced no Effect
in tempting us to follow, she made resound-
ing flaps upon the surface of the water, to
secure that attention to herself which it was
the great object Of the maneuver to attract.
Then, rising suddenly in the air, she made
great circle round US, and returning to the
spot, renewed her endeavors as before. 1t
was not, however, necessary; for the separate
instinct of the young in successful hiding,
effectually baffisd all my attempts to discover
them
II now we examine in the light of our own
reason, all the elements of knowledge or of
intellectual perception upon which the in
stinct of the wild duck is founded, and all of
which, as existing some ewhere, it undoubtedly
reflects, we shall soon see how various and
extensive those elements of knowledge are
First, there is the knowledge that the cause
of the alarm is a carnivorous animal On this
fundamental point no creature is ever deceived
The youngest chick knows hawk, and the
dreaded form fills it with instant terror. Next,
there is the knowledge that dogs and other
carnivorous quadrupeds have the sense of
smell, as an additional element of danger to
the creatures on which they prey. Next, there
is the knowledge that the dog not being itself
a flying animal, has sense enough not to at
tempt the pursuit of pEey which can avail
itself of this sure and easy method of escape,
Next, there is the conclusion from all this
knowledge that if the dog is to be induced to
chase, 1t must be led to suppose that the
power of flight has been somehow lost. And
then there lsthe further conclusion that this
can only be done by such an accurate imita.
ton of disabled bird as shall deceive the
enemy into belief in the possibility of cap
ture. And lastly, there are all the powers of
and the qualities of Imagination
which enable good acting to be performed.
All this reasoning and all this knowledge is
certainly involved in the action of the bird
mother, just as certainly as reasoning and
of much profounder kind is in
volved in the structure or adjustment of the
organic machinery by which ana through !
which the actioH is itself conformed Duke I
Of argyll in the Contemporary Reuieac.