Year: 1875

dAlSuI u pun oil OPOH SPsASN3 SSAASi a
ly on green grass. Two or three viii
begin cawing, and in minute o.
two forty or fifty of them will come
flying towards the place by twos anc
Ihrees rom every quarter. They
then form kind of ring round one
crow, which appears to have been
an offender against some of the rules
of their society, and they remain
still for some minutes, the culprit
never appearing to escape. Then,
all of sudden five or six of them
attack the prisoner, pecking him,
and striking him with their wings.


On one occasion l saw the crow
left dead on the spot, and on anoth-
er the prisoners wing was broken;
but these courts, or whatever they
are, suddenly came to a termination
by the too near approach of man
ora dog. l saw one meeting which
lasted twenty minutes; but no pun
ishment was inflicted on anY of them
and no noise was made. The whole
assembly few off together; they
were not disturbed at all, and were
eating nothing, for it took place on
bare plain. Of course, it must
only be surmised as to why these
crows are punished by the others;
perhaps some close observer may dis
cover the reason.


Here is casually noticed an. i'm
portant fact, namely, that these
crow parliaments are sufficiently
common in India to have received a
name in the language of THAT coun-
try, and that one individual saw sew
eral of them. | mention this, be-
cause several accounts of crow par
liaments seen in this country have
been received with considerable in
credulity. The reader will observe
in all essential points, the two mar
ratives agree. My own correspon-
dent is of opinion that the two birds
which guarded the culprit were the
accusers, and that it was their duty
to infict the first blow. There is q
curious parallel here with that por-
ton of the Mosaic law which ordain
ed that in cease of apItal punishment
there must be at least two witnesses,
that they must cast the first stone
at the cOvicted criminal.


An account of 9.


SIMILAR ACT OF JUSTICE


is related by ]. Drew, in Hard
wicke's Science Gossip, for October,
1871. The event occurred at Nam
sladron, III Cornwall.


One summer afternoon my atten-
ton was drawn to a vast assemblage
of rocks on our lawn. By the ter
rible vociferations they were making
it was evident that something very
unusual was being enacted; for,
clamorous as these birds are, by ma
ture, the noise and excitement of
this meeting it would be almost I'M
possible to describe.


After watching them for some
time, it became clear they were in
the act of carrying out some precon-
certed punishment upon a luckless
offender of their own flock; for on
the ground was black object in the
form of a rook, which was evident
ly being pecked at, rolled over and
over, and so passed on from rank to
rank of the assembled multitude
That it was not a mere pastime was
evident from the ruthless way in
which feathers were pulled out and
continuous blows given.


Having waited about ten minutes,
we felt curiosity to know the eff
feet of such chattering ferosity up
on the poor black object, and drew
near to pick it up. OF course the
rocks few away with loud cawing;
as soon as we approached; but, to
our great astonishment, the pros.
trate bird opened its eyes, spread its
ragged wings, and made, as best ii
could, for the nearest tree. Wheth-
er, if we had not interfered, the
punishment would have been carried
out atsqne ad nlOrteD7, 1 know not.
But clearly it was a good case
to prove that the lower ami
mails are governed by the same pFin
eipses of right and actions as
we are, each grade varying only in
it's mental and moral qualities IL
proportion to the development OF
their nervous system.


Here, as it will be noticed, the OBJ
server saw the infiction of the pun
ishment, but net the trial which haC
evidently preceded it. Still he saw
enough to show that the birds mus
have possessed the power of reason
ing, and language sufficiently deh'
mite to enable them to unite in a com
mon object


Other birds beside crows and rook
can assemble,


HOLD COUNCIL,


and agree to act on the result o
their deliberations,


One of my friends, then livin;
near Manchester, in the garden hao
a very fine mountain ash tree, whicl
always produced a plenttEi lot o.
berries. Shortly before the fr1l
ripened, a great number of thrusbe'
GOT together at the end of the gar
den and were very noisy, chattering
and evidently discussing some sub
iect on which they were not agreed
This went on for some time, the as.
semblage and ehattering continuing
daily. All this time the berries
were ripening; and one morning al
order appeared to be issued; the
birds flew to the tree, and in couple
of hours there was not a berry left
upon it. This occurred regularly
during thethree years in which my
friend occupied the house.


Last year somewhat singular
event took place in the garden of
one of my neighbors, who is a great
horticulturist, aud very successful
with fruit as well as with flowers
There was a cherry tree bearing in
that wear a very reliable crop of
fruit, which was carefully watched
until it ripened. One evening the
owner of the garden, seeing that the
cherries had Just reached the proper