Year: 1873

diansfif Of the mother.


-Tvs rats belonging to the sam.


colony performed feat quite as in


geniois. A trap which was baited


for their capture, was habituall,


piuntlered without securing q single


rat They had evidently invented some


plan for safely stealing away the bait,


and what the plan was could only be


learned by setting watch on the


trap. We shall explain how the theft


was effected. The trsp was Of the


kind which is sometimes employed


for catching mice 1t was a box


with a sliding door, which was sus-


taiued BY mechanism connected with


the bait On the bait being nibbled


at. the door desc, nds and makes the


mouse % prisoner. The two rats


saw through the device, aud resorted


to the following very simple but ef-
fectusl method to take away the bait,


which vas piece OF toasted cheese,


and yet escape Imprisonment. One


of them placed itself under the door.


so that it might fall on its bsck,


while the other crept 10 and success


fully carried off the morsel of cheese


The FIST rat then drew itself from


under The door, and joined its com


panion. This demonstration of rat
intelligence, like the preceding Incl
dent. is of recent occurrence.


Our next anecdote relates to an an
imal OF 3 very different kind, a mag
pie. Among the poultry at coun
try hoase in Benfrewshire was q tur-
key hen, that preferred, as turkeys
often do, to make her nest among
busheson the side of burn, some
three hundred yards from the house,
rather than in the onthouse appro
priated to the poultry. A magpie,
chancing to be perched one day on
neighbSring tree, saw the turkey Wis
it her nest. and pounced down On the
newly laid egg as soon as the turkey
had left it, proceeding without loss
Of time to make hole in the shell,
and extract portion of its contents.
From that day forth, the magpie |
was never absent from the vicinity of |
the nest about the hour of the fore
noon when the turkey was accus
toned to repair to it, but, seated on
one or other of the trees, kept watch
for the opportunity of so delicious a
repast; so that it was found necessa-
y to follow the turkey pretty closely
n order to obtain her egg unbroken
BY the magpie's bill


The last anecdote that we propose
10 tell concerns trout Few snec-
Totes have heen told of the intelli
yenee Of fishes. and they do not gen
,rally get credit for much OF it, nor
10 they probably possess mach. Yet
hat they do possess some measure of
t appears from the well Known fact
mt carp iH-poaas have learned to
'ome at certain signal to he fed, and
ornething of the kind has been OBJ
erved of some kinds of sea fish in
marine fish pond. 1t would be
worth while for any one who has an
aquarium to direct his attention to
his subject, and to keep a record of
lis observations Ours were made
IN trout in 8 burn. Its place of
.bode was under stone in a small
,ool, Immediately below a wooden
ridge, over which the path led from
he house in which we resided to the
,arden Tt was a pleasing amuse-
nent for boys to feed the trout with
worms, which were readily to he pro,
ured in the garden; and the trout
we're fed accordingly, and soon
earned to come out from below the
tone, and seize the worm thrown
mt into the pool, whatever number
# spectators might be close at hand
N the bridge, and although some of
hem might be little noisy. But it
7ss thought proper to try a trick
pom the poor fish, and to present
i'm with a very small long radish, in
tead of a worm. Out came the
rout at once, the radish in shape aud
olor being pretty like a worm, and
aught it ere it reached the bottom;
ut quickly spat it out again, and re
reated to the shelter OF the stone.
'nce or twice afterward, the trick
'as successfully repeated; but the
rout soon learned to distinguish
adish from q worm, and ceased to
ONE out for the one, although prompt
D ough in coming for the other.