I2O 



Wild Birds. 



the water below. A little delay in the instinctive reaction of fear could hardly come 

 amiss to young in such a nest. On the other hand when the ducklings have been led to 

 the water no birds show a keener sense of fear than they or respond more promptly to 

 the alarm signals of their parents. I was greatly impressed when a boy at the sight of a 

 Black Duck leading her trim little fleet of yellow sail up the mouth of a small sedge- 

 bordered stream. The old 

 bird quickly gave the alarm, 

 rose, veered, and flew to- 

 wards the river, while the 

 young scrambled to the bank 

 and hid in the rushes. I 

 hunted long but succeeded 

 in finding only one who lay 

 flat in the marsh and kept 

 perfectly still, true to its in- 

 herited instinct. These 

 ducklings had not been 

 afloat many hours, and had 

 this action been repeated be- 

 fore, the lesson could not 

 have been taught, since, as 

 we have seen, the young 

 under such circumstances 

 are left to their own devices. 

 I have seen a young 

 chick while feeding quietly 

 close to the house suddenly 

 turn its head, look straight 

 at the zenith, and then run 

 off in a panic of fear. Look- 

 ing up also I saw a Hen 

 Hawk sailing aloft like a toy 

 kite, a mere speck against 

 the blue heavens. I think 

 it probable that the bird got 

 an alarm signal from some 



other fowls in the yard ; at all events it knew where to look, and its response was not 

 slow. This chicken may have been three weeks old, and so had ample time to learn 

 its lesson, if such it was. Had the dark object been a paper kite it is not likely that 

 the fear evoked would have been appreciably less. 



In altricial birds the sense of fear usually comes, as we have seen, with the de- 

 velopment of the flight feathers, but it is often premature, thus indirectly causing the 

 death of thousands of birds every year. In July and August how many helpless spar- 

 rows and thrushes are found on the ground, having left their nests too early ! Some- 

 times they tumble out by accident, are drawn off by hunger, or are blown out in a gale, 



Fig. 117. Young Cedar-birds in displaced nest standing in characteristic at- 

 titude with upturned heads. Photographed on day of flight, July 17, 1899, 

 when possessed of fear. For account, see page 60. 



