Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1914-03-07
INSTINCT GUIDE
BIRDS DEPEND ON
FEATHEHED CREATURES AC-
CUSED on LACK OF WISDOM
~ SELECTING SITES.

London The wisdom OF tue little
people" h q subject u never falling
harm 10 those yhs love them. and n
. gitn a certain degree % hesitation
hat ! draw your attention 10 one or
t0o curious Instances Of what may be-
termed "unvisdom." says n writer In
b. London Weekly Telegraph. They
are worth stodying because they
ihr0W some liEht on the vexcd cues
lion ~ instinct versus reason. No
subject ~ better worth attention. none
more frequently misunderstood. for
many an action which We caroleasly
assign 20 intelligence IL really the re
suit 81 Instinct.
A bird does not learn 10 build nest
nor does II reason ont the best wBy OF
setting 10 work. II simply follows lts
Instinct aud acts A. countless genera.
tons ~ ia Kind have done in the past
Remember such busy worker cannot
b. said 10 be following the example ~
10 parents since II never saw them at
work Even better instances ~ this
may be- found among the toeming
members Of the insect world. for they
are usually orphaned AZ the time ~
their birth. vet they oontrive 10 carry
out the most complicated work with
10 one 10 guide them. and no pattern
before them.
Wisdom. then. 10 clearly word
which must not be too lightly used
aud. perhaps ought not 20 accuse the
little workers OF lack OF n. but rather
OF occasional plumbers. Exact terms
arc always dangerous things 10 deal
With. FOR they tempt one 20 wander
into tho maze ~ definition. and once
there Il II dIhlcult 10 get away again
The man who knows moro OF the
ways Of spiders than. perhaps any one
else in the worlf-Of course. mean
" Faber ior n long time studied the
habits o. that maternal spider which
carries a sort Of egg basket about with
her instead ~ deposlting her eggs In
a suitable spot and leaving them alone
The spider In question has come In
FOR much praise. the tender solicitude
she boirays for her future brood be
Ink beautiful Alas. when she "a made
the 'ictim OF \ sort OF practical Joke
md has little round OF cork given
her instead % her precious treasure,
she carries Il Just az 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 20 carry such F.
lumber az beads under the irnpre,
siou that they are harvesting Their /
however. Is not M sad in rs 1
results as that Of the fv which lays
IN eggs on the evil smelling carrion |
plant under tho impression Tint II has |
QUAD particularly putrid aud there.
ore desirable. piece OF meat
Birds occasionally. though only occs.
'ionally mako sad blunders IN their |
'holce ~ nesting site some OF tho |
water fowl having IN spot which Is |
iretty sure ~ no under water before I
he cggs are Matched Again. In some I
instances. two cuckoo eggs have been .
discovered 90 tho same nest. and tho .
iird has been blamed for making such .
J mistake AZ To imagine that TWO chill /
lren or hers could possibly occupy I
Iuch cramped quarters. am not sa. /
SIZED that this criticism Is fair. be
'ause q is possible that the eggs lrs
hos" ~ two rivals, though oven then
p might be argued that the second
iird ough, % know better than n
hoosp nest already engaged. That
he should fail 10 do 40 IS. perhaps
et another example ~ this most nm
birds brutal Indifference &c
yer ofspr.ugs future. She really 10
hooking
But perhaps tho siranges, blunder
y M "a that made by he lomming
which marches IN iis thousands down
o tho sea. and 70 MI lntents aud pur
'oses. commita tho crime NJ frlo.da 40
: h" really means 90 end his d,y,
hon 10 cannot fairly describe the az
ion as a blundar The general opin.
on is however. that ihr deed Is the
esult " a mistake surely the most
gigantic ever made The lemming
however. is too interesting n creature
o he dismissed lightly. lie must have
paragraph io himself some day. We
= the stranEest aud most persistent
uicide that ever died