The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-17
NATURAL HIsTORY FACTS
Curious Instincts of Animals which Puzzle
the wisest Head.
From nc 81. Louis Giob,. o,mocra,

From hc 81 LOhis Globe bsmocrdt.
Here is a curious and little known fact regard.
ing litter bearing animals dogs. wolves, the
whole cat family, hogs rabbits, and 50 on each
ot their young apprOpriates to itself one particular
teat and never by any chance sucks any other.
At first all the tcats are tumd aud full Of milk.
within a week those which do not suckle become
dry and small Thus a glance at the mother
shows the number Of her young. The effect Is
often very curious by this process Of natural
selection the big milk giving ,eats frequently
alternate regularly with the dry ones
The wise men say this is one OF natures special
provisions ag ainst injustice Without II, among
grcgarious animals. the strongest litter would
plumber tramplc and starye the weaker ones,
OF course. in the same family the pig or puppy
or kitten or cub which holds on longest and sucks
hardcs, gets the biggest share oi the provision
but that Is another thing from going outside.
Very young lambs are as like as peas in pod
to everything. except the noses Of their mothers.
4 hundred ewes at pasture with lambs Of the
same size. will make no mistake about their chill
dren--that Ia. II the children have once been &C
Cepted as their own, Sometimes II happens that
for no visible reason eve rejects her lamb. and
cannot be induced to own 1t. II she has twins
she may own one and reject the other case
in point was that Of grade Of mcrino. which
brought forth at once big bouncing white lamb
and a very scrawny black atom. She would not
look nj the white fellow, but lavishcd passionate
devotion upon the black one, 10 tho great amaze
mcnt of the shepherd lie declared that In forty
years experience he had seen nothing like II -
though he had known many cases In which black
lambs were promptly disowned.
Regular shepherds have trick by which TO
fool the ewes nose. II a new born lamb dies
they strip II Of its skin and iascn the skin securely
upon another lamb Of twins or II may be
tIiplcts, Then for day or two they pin the lit
tie al "a haf aI la .gN
cases she accepts " and roars II, never knowing
the difference. but sometimes as soon a. the
extra skin - removed she pushes II yolcnty
| away. and will have nothing more 10 do with IT,
MIX giving does not always depend upon
motherhood case IN point was that Of barren
mare, left AZ pasture with n pair OF weanngs.
about 5 months old Their mothers were out
Of sight and hearing. but after the first two days
II noticed that they appeared 10 be suspciously
| content In n week the mare, their companion,
began TO lose flesh, her owner decided TO invcs
! ugate A it'll watching showed that She went
through the form Of suckling both colts She
| was separated and kept twelve hours IN a stall.
| her udder, and she was whining restesSly
for her adopted children as though they were
Amos, the same thing happened to a hriicr
| cal the pride Of Tennessee COW pen, whcr.
! calves were never wcancd, but suckled as regu
| small black boys, who had the lob Of keeping
| off the calves, beguiled the tedium Of waits by
pennlng the hefer calf in u fence corner and pre-
| tending 10 milk her into q broken gourd. They
| began II In June. when the creature was months
| old. BY October they had brought her 10 her
milk II came In tiny stream, OF course. but
wa milk unmistakablc Curiously enough the
heifer, which had every mark OF turning out a
valuable mixer at maturity proved almost worth.
There arc many odd and Interesting things
to be said Of the quail, which Is known through
out large scope OF the country ds the partridge.
! One is that 1t has the power. when badly fright
| ened, Of Withholding It's scent \ covey. quickly
flushed, Will scatter and lie 50 close the hest dog
In the world will overrun them, making sign
Of point until the bird fntterS up right under foot
death, Il taken winged in hand and Of coming;
quickly 10 life the minute the grasp is relaxed
in the ,neighborhood II good cover Further,
the birds have sort 81 batomctric sense.
y wopdsmSh marking the direction in which
quail feed can almost certainly ioretcll the DAYS
il will be mild and moist. II they go 10 the open
woods he looks for wind and sun. II they scurry
bitter cold Is imminent Unless forced 10 mis- ate
By lack OF food cuvey ALWAYS sleeps with in
100 yards Of the nest It WAS hotShcd inland
miles away. The sleeping is done in a huddl-d
ling, tails in, heads out all around, aud ciosel y
Instinct possibly lies back OF the ring making
Thus The shy creatures hope to escape surprise
which steal upon them in the night
Quail nre Mormons 81 the nrst water In tn,
mating season the strongest cocks strut and
preen themselves before their several wives ruff
fling defiance the while AT the poor bachelor birds
snd nS SS The wTss nv r SsS soeS
and take turns in biooding them. as does also
the head Of the family After the covey is fun
! grown II runs in 4 long very keen triangle like
file OF gees, very much exaggerated They
feed they run. hence II Is easy toll them into
batrd coon Once inside. they will run wild y
around. living against the bars and trying Il
thrust their heads between. with no thought O
returning Nv the way they came
Wild turkeys have the same idiosyncracy
Beyond a douh, u has contributed largely 4,
Their rapid sHanc,i%n wild and tame an! one
one Of their number who falls lame. or druOp'
aggrcSsively. They also share In a wild diSlik,
"a 80 LATE a..
will I've pcckcd and torn and ramplcd as long
as there Il a sound shred