Chapter 4 – Finite Fields
The next morning at daybreak, Star flew indoors,
seemingly keen for a lesson. I said, "Tap eight." She did
a brilliant exhibition, first tapping it in 4, 4, then giving me
a hasty glance and doing it in 2, 2, 2, 2, before coming
for her nut. It is astonishing that Star learned to count up
to 8 with no difficulty, and of her own accord discovered
that each number could be given with various different
divisions, this leaving no doubt that she was consciously
thinking each number. In fact, she did mental arithmetic,
although unable, like humans, to name the numbers. But
she learned to recognize their spoken names almost
immediately and was able to remember the sounds of
the names. Star is unique as a wild bird, who of her own
free will pursued the science of numbers with keen
interest and astonishing intelligence.
—Living with Birds, Len Howard
docsity.com
