Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1913-12-03
INSTINCT ONLYGUIDE
Birds and Insects That 0cca.
sionalIy Make Blunders.
Feathered Creatures Accused Of "Un.
wisdom" In the Selection Of Sites
for Nssts-Ant IL Net Always
Wise.


London.-The wisdom OF the little
people" IL a subject OF never failing
charm 10 those who love them, and Il
Is with certain degree OF hesitation
that ! draw your attention TO one or
two curious instances OF what may be
termed "unwisdom." says a writer In
the London Weekly Telegraph. They
are worth studying. because they
throw some light on the vexed ques-
ton Of instinct versus reason. No
subject is better worth attention. none
more frequently misunderstood, for
many an action which we carelessly
assign 10 intelligence is really the re-
suit OF instinct.
A bird does not learn 10 build 4 nest
nor does II reason out the best way OF
setting to work. Il simply follows It's
instinct and acts as countless genera
lions Of It's kind have done in the past
Remember such busy worker cannot
be said to be following the example OF
Its parents since 1t never saw them at
work Even better instances OF this
may be found among the teeming
members OF the insect world, for they
are usually orphaned at the time of
their birth, yet they contrive 10 carry
out the most complicated work with
no one to guide them. and no pattern
before them.
Wisdom. then, Is clearly a word
which must not be too lightly used.
and, perhaps, ought not to accuse the
little workers Of lack OF It, but rather
of occasional blunders Exact terms
are always dangerous things TO deal
with, for they tempt one to wander
into the maze of definition, and once
there II is difficult to get away again.
The man who knows more OF the
ways Of spiders than, perhaps, any one
else in the world-of course, mean
M. Faber-for a long time studied the
habits Of that maternal spider which
carries a sort Of egg basket about with
her, instead of depositing her eggs in
a suitable spot and leaving them alone.
The spider in question has come in
for much praise the tender solicitude
she betrays for her future brood be
ing beautiful. Alas, when she is made
the victim of sort of practical joke,
and has a little round Of cork given
her instead of her precious treasure,
she carries 1t just as carefully, and
never finds out the difference.
Ants, in spite of their Wanted wis
DOM may be tricked in much the
same way, being made to carry such
lumber as beads under the impress
sion that they are harvesting. Their
mistake, however, is not as sad in its
results as that of the fly, which lays
its eggs on the evil smelling carrion
plant under the impression that it has
found a particularly putrid, and there
fore desirable, piece of meat.
Birds occasionally, though only occa
sionally, make sad blunders in theiI
choice OF a nesting site, some OF the
water fowl laying in a spot which il
pretty sure to be under water before
the eggs are Matched. Again, in some
instances, two cuckoo eggs have beer
: discovered in the same nest, and tn,
, bird has been blamed for making sucl
: a mistake as to imagine that two chill
! dren of hers could possibly occup!
) such cramped quarters. l am not sat
! isfied that this criticism is fair, be
cause It is possible that the eggs ar
those Of two rivals, though even thel
. it might be argued that the secont
: bird ought to know better than L
: choose a nest already engaged. Tha
she should fail to do so is, perhaps
yet another example of this most III
! motherly birds brutal indifference I
her offspring's future She really 1
a shocking.
But, perhaps, the strangest blunde
of all is that made by the lemmint
which marches in its thousands dow
n to the sea, and, to all intents and pu
L poses, commits the crime Of felo-de-s,
a. II he really means to end his day
!. then we cannot fairly describe the a.
4 ton as blunder The general opil
a ion is. however. that the deed is tn
II result of a mistake-surely the mos
" gigantic ever made. The lemmin
i, however, is too interesting a creatuI
| to be dismissed lightly. He must hav
a paragraph to himself some day H
is the strangest and most persistel
suicide that ever died.