206 Studies in Animal Behavior 



der one's hand in perfect confidence. When the 

 birds become larger and acquire their second coat 

 of feathers the instinct of fear takes possession of 

 them and they run and hide in the grass when you 

 approach. Here they lie perfectly quiet; you may 

 pull them about, stretch out their legs, necks, or 

 wings and place them in the most awkward posi- 

 tions, and they will remain as limp and motionless 

 as if really dead. They will even suffer their wing 

 or tail feathers to be plucked out one by one with- 

 out a wince. But all of a sudden the bird becomes 

 a very different creature. It screams, pecks and 

 struggles to escape, and is very apt to succeed on 

 account of the surprising quickness of the change. 

 I have made several attempts to make a bird feign 

 death a second time, but never met with success. 



According to Couch the land rail and skylark 

 feign death, and Wrangle states that the wild geese 

 of Siberia have the same habit during their molting 

 season, when they are unable to fly. Hudson states 

 in his most interesting Naturalist on the La Plata 

 that the common partridge of the pampas, when 

 captured, "after a few violent struggles to escape 

 drops its head, gasps two or three times, and to 

 all appearances dies. If, when you have seen this, 

 you release your hold, the eyes open instantly, and 

 with startling suddenness and noise of wings, it is 

 up and away and beyond your reach forever." 



In mammals the instinct is so well shown in one 

 of the lower members of the group, the opossum, 



