Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 104, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 March 1917 — WELL EQUIPPED WITH BRAINS [ARTICLE]

WELL EQUIPPED WITH BRAINS

Nature Was by No Means Niggardly When She Handed Feathered Creatures Their Portion. [ Naturalists have arrived at the con- ! elusion that the brain in birds is large in proportion to the body. If it is admitted that intelligence depends upon the weight of brain, then the goldfinch must be placed at the top of the list of birds; the brain weighs one-fourteenth of its whole body. It must be remarked, however, that attempts to draw conclusions as to the intelligence of certain birds from a comparison of the weight of the brain with that of the body have been considered futile. In man the brain forms from one-twenty-second to one-thirty-third of the whole body; in the canary, one-fourteenth; the sparrow, one-twenty-fifth; the Chaffinch, one-twenty-seventh; the redbreast, one-thirty-second; the blackbird, one-sixty-eighth; the duck, one-two-hundred-and-fifty-seventh; the eagle, one-two-hundred-and-sixtieth; the goose, one-three-hundred-and-sixtl-eth; the domestic hen, one-four-hun-dred-and-twelfth. By some the preternaturally cunning raven is supposed to be the most highly developed of birds. His courage is so great that the eagle respects it, and his intelligence prevents. him from getting into unseen though suspected dangers.