ANIMAL INSTINCT.
[To TUE EDITOR OF TIIE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—A correspondent in the Spectator of October 31st states that platelayers tell him birds are frequently killed by railway-engines. I believe this is a fact, and it may be that many birds meet their death through sheer recklessness. While riding on the engine of a fast train on the Great North a Scotland Railway one day two summers ago, I observed a crow perched on the rail a little distance in front. He was aware of the approach of the train, and as it rapidly advanced he cocked his head in a nonchalant and critical manner. It surprised me much that the bird made no attempt to move, and the engine was so close that I wondered if he would actually be run over. Another moment, and thinking it now time to get out of the way, he took to flight and tried to cross the line. He was too late. The huge moving mass struck him and he was dead in an instant, a quivering foot and por- tion of a wing remaining just visible over the edge of the boiler, the body being supported by the hand-rail on which it had fallen. The fireman, who bad been looking over my shoulder, went along to the front of the engine and brought back the unfortunate crow limp and lifeless,—a victim, I am inclined to think, to familiarity which bred a fatal contempt.
Previous page
