St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-05-21
COvINGTON ST. TAMMANY PARISH SATURDAY Fl,
ANIMALS AS THIEVES.

| !; ANIMALS As THIEVES.
1As Fss.'as'eas es se.s Il tAs Lsvs'
| Crsasarea
Thievery in nature Il widely extend
| d. Whole classes Of animals prey on
other classes for food: whole families
src parasitic. and gradually weaken
Snd destroy those on which they feed
Huber relates IN anecdote Of some
Nive-bees paying . visit TO . nest Of
humble. bees placed in = box not far
from their hive, in order to steal OF
kcg the honey. which places in strong
light tho good temper OF the latter.
This happened In . time Of scarcity.
The hive bees after pillaging. had
taken almost entire possession OF the
hest Some bumbleb bees which re-
nsined in spite Of this disaster, went
.,ut to collect provisions and bringing
home the surplus after they had sup
piled their own immediate necessities.
the hive bees followed them aud did
aot quit them until they had obtained
the fruit Of their labor&
They licked them, presented to them
their probosceA surrounded them, and
Ahus ut last persuaded them to part
with the contents Of their 'honey-
sba9A" The bumblebees did them no
harm and never once showed their
stingA SO that it seems to have been
:persuasion rather thaa force that pro-
:duced this singular instance Of self.
:denial. This remarkable msneuver
was practiced for more than three
weeks. when the wssps. being attracted
by the same cause, the bumb!ebces en-
!entirely forscok tho nest
Birds, Notwithstanding their attrac-
|tiveness in plumsge and sweetness in
song. are many of them great thieves
When nest-building they will steal the
feathers out Of the nests Of other birdA
and are much inclined to drive OF
other birds from . feeding grouni.
even when there Is abundance. This
is especially true Of one Of our greatest
favorites. the robin redbrcast who
will peck and run after and drive
away birds much bigger than him
self.
Very different a the robin and
the sparrow are in other things they
resemble each other in this On IN
early. spring inorning when . little
touch of frost still makes the surface
of the earth hard I have seen . black.
bird on lawn at last after great ef-
forts extract . worm. and this was the
signal for crowd of sparrows who. BY
dint Of numberA managed to drive
away the blackbird and carry OF the
worm. to feed to their own young ones,
no doubt
But the stealing Of nest building
material or OF worms il not nearly SO
surprising - tho stealing Of the nests
In . sense, Of course, the
cuckoo steals the use Of the nest Of
another bird, when she deposits in Il
her own cggA and steals or procares
under false pretcnses the services Of .
foster mother for IN intruder; but that
is not what We mean. It = . more
common thing for the sparrows, when
there is . prospect Of . mild autumn,
to save themselves time and trouble in
the building Of . nest for . late brood
and to drive other birds from the nest
they have built snd still inhabit Some
times even the swallow Is Q sufferer in
this way.
Readers Of Frank Buckland's most
delightful books will remember that
nothing pleased him more than 10 OBJ
serve the different aud delightful ways
In which his pets would thieve. He
would sometimes even tempt them to |
steal Just to see how clever they could
be in doing il He tells one delicious
story about his favorite Jenny. the
suricatc. and another about . pet rat
which he had, and which not unfre. |
quently terrified his visitors 1t break
last
He had made . house for the pet rat |
just by the side OF the mantel-picce. and
his was approached by . kind OF lad |
Ter. up which the rat had 70 climb when |
he ventured down to the floor. Some |
kinds Of fish the rat particularly liked
md was sure to come out II the SAVIOR |
was strong. One day Mr.. Bnckland |
turned his back {, give the rat . chance |
II seizing the coveted morsel, which |
be was not long in doing and running
up the ladder with It; but he had fixed |
L BY the middle Of the back, and the |
loor of the entrance was too narrow to |
ldmit of its being drawn in thus
But Mr. Rat was equal to the emer- |
yeucy. In . moment he bethoughe |
himself, laid the fish on the small plat
|orm before tho door. and then enter
ng his house he put out his mouth.
,ook the fish BY the nose and thus
pulled II in and made . meal Of IL
Never after this did he attempt TO drag
n such . morsel carried lengthwise,
hough Mr.. Bucklaud often tried him.
One of the most remark able iustsaces
Il carrying ON . career Of theft came
,uder our own observation. A friend
q northeast Essex had . very fine
Aberdeenshire terrier. female. and .
'ery sffectionste relationship sprung
Up between this dog and . tomcat The
at followed the dog with the utmost
ondness. purring aud running against
t aud would come aud call at the door
or the dog to come out Attention
vas first drawn to the pair BY this cir.
umstance.
One evening we were visiting our
riend and heard the cat about the door
alling. and some ono said TO our friend
hat the cat was noisy. ''IIe wants
title DELL" said he-thst being the dog .
anne; we looked incredulouS "Well.
on shall see." said he. aud opening the
oor he let the TERROR out