will not capture it. 14 Bees again are naturally wild; hence if
a swarm settles on your tree, it is no more considered yours,
until you have hived it, than the birds which build their nests
there, and consequently if it is hived by some one else, it be-
comes his property. So too any one may take the honey-combs
which bees may chance to have made, though, of course, if you
see some one coming on your land for this purpose, you have
a right, to forbid him entry before that purpose is effected. A
swarm which has flown from your hive is considered to remain
yours so long as it is in your sight and easy of pursuit: other-
wise it belongs to the first person who catches it. 15 Peafowl
too and pigeons are naturally wild, and it is no valid objection
that they are used to return to the same spots from which they
fly away, for bees do this, and it is admitted that bees are wild
by nature; and some people have deer so tame that they will
go into the woods and yet habitually come back again, and still
no one denies that they are naturally wild. With regard, how-
ever, to animals which have this habit of going away and
coming back again, the rule has been established that they are
deemed yours so long as they have the intent to return: for if
they cease to have this intention they cease to be yours, and
belong to the first person who takes them; and when they lose
the habit they seem also to have lost the intention of returning.
16 Fowls and geese are not naturally wild, as is shown by the
fact that there are some kinds of fowls and geese which we
call wild kinds. Hence if your geese or fowls are frightened
and fly away, they are considered to continue yours wherever
they may be, even though you have lost sight of them; and any
one who keeps them intending thereby to make a profit is held
guilty of theft. 17 Things again which we capture from the