THE WILD llllU) AT ARM'S LENGTH. 199 



THE WILD I'.IKl) AT AEM'S LENGTH: A NEW METHOD 



OF BIRD STUDY.* 



By Professor FRANCIS H. HERRICK, 



ADELBERT COLLEGE. 



X N the study of wild birds the problem of approach has always been 

 -*- diflRciilt to master. The land birds of every continent are, as a 

 rnle, shy and difficult to study with that minuteness of detail which 

 alone can satisfy the naturalist and careful observer of their habits. 



Birds have enemies to fear and shun, and their discrimination does 

 not exclude their most ardent or curious admirers from their bitterest 

 foes. With them the battle is not always to the strong. Timidity, 

 agility, protective colors and the instinct of concealment are as impor- 

 tant in the struggle for life as the bill-hook and mailed foot. We 

 speak of icild birds or of wild animals generally in contrast to the 

 comparatively few which are tame, and if the wilderness does not 

 always howl, it is often because its inhabitants have found it better 

 policy to remain silent. 



Wildness is due to fear which may be inherited or acquired by 

 experience with this wicked world. Tameness on the other hand 

 comes only through the casting out of fear, and may be effected by 

 the formation of new habits, which are either spontaneous or forced. 

 In order to tame a wild animal we must therefore teach it new lessons, 

 and in doing this it is a common practice to literally chain it to a fixed 

 spot, where its conditions of life are uniform and under control, and 

 Avhere no other teachers are allowed to interfere. The moment, 

 however, the wild bird is placed in a cage its behavior is no longer 

 perfectly spontaneous or free, at least not until all fear has been 

 subdued. What is needed, therefore, is an invisible chain to hold the 

 animals to some fixed and chosen spot, which may be approached in 

 disguise. 



Fortunately for the student of birds all these conditions are fulfilled 

 for a very important period — that of life at the nest. The nest with its 

 young is the given fixed point, and parental instinct is the invisible 

 chain. 



* Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons will shortly publish a book by Professor Her- 

 rick, in which the original method described in this paper will be given in 

 greater detail, and the interesting results obtained will be more fully set forth. 

 The book will be entitled 'The Home-Life of Wild Birds: A New Method 

 of Bird Study and Bird Photography," and will contain upwards of 140 illustra- 

 tions from nature. — Editoe. 



