The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1892-05-26
ANIMALS AS THIEVES


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Creatures
Thievery in nature is widely extend
ed. Whole classes of animals prey on
other classes for food; whole families
are parasitic, and gradually weaken
and destroy those on which they feed
4 Huber relates an anecdote OF some
hive-bees paying visit to nest Of
i bumble-becs, placed In box not far
kfrom their hive, in order to steal OF
beg the honey, which places In strong
light the good temper OF the latter.
This happened in q time Of scarcity.
The hive bees after pillaging. had
taken almost entire possession of the
nest Some humble bees, which re-
manned in spite Of this disaster, went
out to collect provisions, and bringing
home the surplus after they had sup
piled their own immediate necessities,
the hive bees followed them and did
not quit them until they had obtained
| the fruit OF their labors.
i They licked them, presented TO them
their probosces, surrounded them, and
thus at last persuaded them to part
with the contents Of their s'honey-
bags" The umblebees did them no
harm and never once showed their
stings, so that 1t seems to have been
peHsuasion rather than force that pro-
/ dnced this singular instance of self
denial. This remarkable vancouver
was practiced for morS than three
weeks, when the wasps, being attracted
by the same cause, the bumblebees en-
entirely forseok the nest
Birds, Notwithstanding their attrac-
tiveness in plumage and sweetness in
song, are many Of them great thieves.
When nest-building they will steal the
feathers out OF the nests of other birds.
and are much inclined to drive Off
other birds from feeding greanis
even when there is abundance This
is especially true Of one of our greatest
| favorites, the robin redbrcast who
will peck and run after aud drive
away birds much bigger than him
self
Very different as the robin and
| the sparrow are In other things, they
resemble each other in this On an
early, spring morning when q little
touch of frost still makes the surface
of the earth hard have seen black
bird on lawn at last after great Of
forts extract a worm, and this was the
signal for crowd Of ssparrows who, by
dint Of numbers. managed to drive
| away the blackbird and carry off the
worm. to feed to their own young ones,
no doubt
But the stealing Of nest-building
material OF of worms is not nearly 30
surprising as the stealing of the nests
themselves In sense, of course, the
cuckoo steals the use of the nest OF
another bird. when she deposits In it
her own eggs and steals or procures
under false pretenses the services of a
foster mother for an intruder; but that
is not what we mean. 1t Is a more
common thing for the sparrows, when
there is a prospect of o mild autumn,
to save themselves time and trouble in
the building of nest for late brood
and to drive other birds fr,m the nest
they have built and still inhabit. Some
times even the swallow is sufferer in
this way.
Readers of Frank Bucslan rs most
delightful books will RENE III Der that
nothing pleased him more THAI To OBJ
serve the different and dc ishtfui ways
in which his pets wonl -til.cvt lie
would sometimes even tempt ticm t
steal just to see how c1cv..r tIcy could
be in doing it lie tells on, dc i .ols
story about his favorits lem ny, he
suricate, and another abo it a psf rat
which he had, aid wish not IL fire.
quently terrified his visitor at break-
fast
He had made house for tho psf rat
just by the side OF the mantel piece and
this was approached by a kind OF lad
der, up which the rat had to climb when
he ventured down to the floor Some
kinds OF fish the rat particularly liked
and was sure to come out IL the sasor
was strong. One day Mr. Busklnnd
turned his back +, give the rat chance
of Selling he-coveted morsel, which
he was not long in doing and running
up the ladder with it; but he had fised
door of the entrance was too narrow TO
admit of its being drawn in thus.
But Mr.. Rat was equal to the emcr-
geucy. In moment he bethought
himself, laid the fish on the small plat
form before the door, and then enter
ing his house he put out his mouth,
took the fish by the nose and thus
pulled it in and made a meal of it
Never after this did he attempt to drag
in such morsel carried length wise
though Mr.. auckland often tried him.
One of the most remarl able instances
Of carrying on career Of theft came
under our own observation. A friend
in northeast Essex had O very fine
Aberdeenshire terrier, female, and
very affeetionate relationship sprung
up between this dog and a tomcat. The
cat followed the dog with the utmost
fondness, purring aud running against
1t, and would come and call at the door
for the dog to come out Attention