Here's another great posting forwarded from our benefactor, Dan, this one
from the dinosaur bulletin board!

>Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 12:04:55 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Dan Victor <dvictor at u.washington.edu>
>To: Dennis Paulson <dpaulson at ups.edu>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 09:37:14 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Harold Fuller <halfu at u.washington.edu>
>To: Dan Victor <dvictor at u.washington.edu>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 12:23:19 -0400
>From: Skip Dahlgren <SDAHLGREN at liblan.uams.edu>
>To: Multiple recipients of list <dinosaur at lepomis.psych.upenn.edu>
>
>On Wed, 7 Jun 1995 21:14:52, Dave (DAVEH47 at delphi.com) wrote:
>
>> Crows and ravens are the most intelligent of all birds. Experts
>> place crow/raven intelligence levels far above dogs and cats!
>
>I can attest from personal experience to the intelligent behavior of at least
>one crow, Hugin (Old Norse for _mind_ or _wisdom_), who lived with me for
>several years.
>
>She invented games and showed a lively interest in the physical world. Once
>she placed a peanut in a paper cup, then seized the cup by its rim and shook
>it, causing the peanut to fly out. She then replaced the peanut and repeated
>the experiment, time and again, until she was catapulting the peanut across
>the room, running to retrieve it, and catapulting it again. From time to
>time, she would put some object on the kitchen table, slowly pushing it
>toward the edge, until it was right at the brink. Then she would stand over
>it, give it a shove, and watch as it fell to the floor. Frequently she then
>would retrieve the object and repeat the process, evidently deriving some
>enjoyment out of watching it fall.
>
>A favorite game was to perch on the edge of the cat box which I kept
>filled with water on the kitchen floor for her to bathe in, holding a cup in
>her beak. She would repeatedly scoop up water from the bath and pour it
>onto the floor. One day, she was standing on the kitchen sink, and noticed
>the perforated plastic cup, part of the dish drainer designed to hold
>silverware. She picked it up and carried it down to her bath. Holding it by
>its rim, she lowered it into the bath, and watched the water bubbling into it
>as she held it submerged. After it was about half full, she picked it up and
>held it over the edge, watching the water drain out of the bottom onto the
>floor!
>
>I could recount many more such instances of crow cleverness, as well as
>that of other birds, notably African Gray parrots, who have demonstrated
>clear evidence of symbolic logic and language ability. I must add that I
>find it hard to doubt that some of the dinosaurs were capable of similar
>intelligent behavior. In particular, the problem-solving intelligence
>ascribed to the "raptors" of Jurassic Park was quite believable to me, after
>my experience with Hugin. :)
>
>
>Skip Dahlgren
>Applications Programmer, Office of Educational Development
>University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
>Phone: 501/296-1087; FAX: 501/686-7053 (new FAX#!)
>e-mail: sdahlgren at liblan.uams.edu; bcsskip at aol.com
>-ex-archaeologist; lifelong afficionado of dinosaurs and their latter-day kin
>"Cross-platform computing is much safer than downhill!" :)

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416