Instinct
As a picture of the ways of birds in winter I liked some lines, written, I believe, by H. R. Pyall, a Fettes master, some years ago. Its title is " Instinct."
" On the face of land and ocean, coming winter sets its seal, And the gathering bird battalions o'er the water veer and wheel. Whose the wisdom that has taught them thus to scatter and reform? Whose the stratagem that shields them from starvation and the storm?
Perfect all in plume and pinion, without bitterness or Pear, They reap for their obedience the bounty of the year.
O men. forget your reasonings, that leads you far astray, And follow instinct, like the birds, as free from care as they." Did not some philosopher argue that reason was developed because of conflicting interests, but the simultaneous movement of birds in flocks is surprising as an example of the herd or mass instinct.
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