You saw in the last chapter that the great superiority of man over other animals is in his mind. Let us look, now, at those things in which their minds are like his, and those things in which they differ from it.
What animals think about.
The cat and the snow.
I have already told you some things about the thinking of animals. Some of them think a great deal. They think about what they see, and hear, and feel very much as we do. I once had a cat that was born in the spring, after the snow was all gone. In the beginning of the next winter, the first snow that came was quite deep. It fell in the night. It was, of course, a new sight to my cat. When she came out in the morning, she looked at it with very curious eyes, just as we look at any thing new. I suppose that she thought how clean, and white, and pretty it was. After looking a little while, she poked the snow first with one paw and then with the other several times, to see how it felt. Then she gathered up between her paws as much as she could hold, and threw it up in the air over her head; and then she ran swiftly all around the yard, making the snow fly about like feathers wherever she went. Now, though my cat could not talk, I could see by her actions that her thoughts and feelings were very much such as children have when they play in the snow.
The sport of animals.
Animals are much like children in their sports. We notice this very often in dogs and cats. But the same thing is true of otheranimals. It is amusing to see porpoises playing with each other in the water. As they throw themselves up out of the water, and dive down again, they chase each other as dogs and cats do. Some birds are very lively in their sports. Insects have their sports also. The ants, industrious as they generally are, have their times for play. They run races; they wrestle; they carry each other on their backs in the same way that boys do; they run one after another, and dodge each other behind stalks of grass, as boys do behind trees and posts; they have scuffles and mock-fights together. Very busy are their minds in their little brains in these sports—as busy as your minds are in your sports.
Sober animals.
The Irishman and the owl.
There are some animals that you never see engaged in sports. Their thoughts seem to be always of the sober kind. You never see toads and frogs play. They always look very grave. The owl is one of the soberest-looking of animals. He looks as if he was considering something. Here is a picture of one. A man once bought an owl, supposing it tobe a parrot. Some one asked him, a day or two after, if his parrot talked yet. No, said he, but he keeps up a great thinking, and I suppose he will speak his thoughts when he gets more acquainted.
The thinking of animals in taking care of their young.
Animals think a great deal in taking care of their young. What care the hen exercises over her brood of chickens! She has some of the same thoughts and feelings of love that a mother has in taking care of her child. And the bird, that has her little ones in the nest, has many thoughts about them as she goes out to gather food, and then wings her way back to put it into their open mouths.
It is interesting to watch canary-birds as they hatch and rear their young. The male bird commonly insists upon it that the female shall sit upon the nest all the time, while he takes upon himself the task of feeding her. A male canary belonging to a friend of mine was excessively particular on this point. He would not let his mate leave the nest for a moment, and if she did he would fight her till she went back. He was exceedingly busy in feeding her, and might certainly be called a good provider.
A lady gave me a very interesting account of two orioles that built their nest on a tree close by her father’s house. They came regularly every year to the same spot, and the family always knew the very day of their arrival by their joyous singing. They seemed to have the same feelings of joy that people generally do when they return to a much-loved home after a long absence. At one time one of their little ones fell from the nest. The parents manifested their concern by flying about in the most hurried, uneasy manner, and making mournful cries. The family pitied the poorbirds, and the little one was carefully picked up, amid the flutterings and cries of the old birds, and was replaced in the nest. And now the joy of the parent birds over their restored one was expressed by a long and merry peal of song, as they sat perched on the branch close by their little nestlings. At length one of these orioles died, and the other left the nest and never more returned.
The spider.
See that spider on his web. He is watching for flies. The mind in his little brain thinks of every fly that comes buzzing along, and is anxious that it should get its legs entangled in the snares that he has woven. How glad he feels when he sees one caught by these snares! And if he thinks that they are not strong enough to hold the fly, he runs and quickly weaves some more threads about him. In the same way do all animals that catch their prey think very busily while they are doing it.
The thinking of animals in building their dwellings.
Animals think much in building their dwellings. The bird searches for what it can use in building its nest, and in doing this it thinks. The beavers think as they build their dams and their houses. They think in getting their materials, and also in arranging them, and in plastering them together with mud.
Questions.—What is said about the thinking of animals? What is told about a cat? What is said about the sports of animals? Tell about the ants. Tell about the owl. What is said about animals taking care of their young? Tell about the canary-bird. Tell about the orioles. What is said about the spider? What is said about animals building their dwellings?
Questions.—What is said about the thinking of animals? What is told about a cat? What is said about the sports of animals? Tell about the ants. Tell about the owl. What is said about animals taking care of their young? Tell about the canary-bird. Tell about the orioles. What is said about the spider? What is said about animals building their dwellings?