INSTINCT IN YOUNG BIRDS. 563 



results were not uniform, yet, in the great majority of instances, the 

 chickens gave evidence of instinctive fear of these sting-bearing in- 

 sects. 



But to return to examples of instinctive skill and knowledge, con- 

 cerning which I think no doubt can remain, a very useful instinct may 

 be observed in the early attention that chickens pay to their toilet. 

 As soon as they can hold up their heads, when only from four to five 

 hours old, they attempt dressing at their wings, that, too, when they 

 have been denied the use of their eyes. Another incontestable case 

 of instinct may be seen in the art of scraping in search of food. With- 

 out any opportunities of imitation, chickens begin to scrape when from 

 two to six days old. Most frequently the circumstances are sugges- 

 tive ; at other times, however, the first attempt, which generally con- 

 sists of a sort of nervous dance, was made on a smooth table. The 

 unacquired dexterity shown in the capture of insects is very remark- 

 able. A duckling one day old, on being placed in the open air for the 

 first time, almost immediately snapped at, and caught, a fly on the 

 wing. Still more interesting is the instructive art of catching flies 

 peculiar to the turkey. When not a day and a half old I observed a 

 young turkey, which I had adopted while yet in the shell, pointing its 

 beak slowly and deliberately at flies and other small insects without 

 actually pecking at them. In doing this its head could be seen to 

 shake like a hand that is attempted to be held steady by a visible ef- 

 fort. This I recorded when I did not understand its meaning. For it 

 was not until afterward that I observed a turkey, when it sees a fly 

 settle on any object, steals on the unwary insect with slow and meas- 

 ured step, and, when sufficiently near, advances its head very slowly 

 and steadily until within reach of its prey, which is then seized by a 

 sudden dart. In still further confirmation of the opinion that such 

 wonderful examples of dexterity and cunning are instinctive and not 

 acquired, may be adduced the significant fact that the individuals of 

 each species have little capacity to learn any thing not found in the 

 habits of their progenitors. A chicken was made, from the first and 

 for several months, the sole companion of a young turkey. Yet it 

 never showed the slightest tendency to adopt the admirable art of 

 catching flies that it saw practised before its eyes every hour of the 

 day. 



The only theory in explanation of the phenomena of instinct that 

 has an air of science about it is, the doctrine of Inherited Association. 

 Instinct in the present generation of animals is the product of the ac- 

 cumulated experiences of past generations. Great difficulty, however, 

 is felt by many in conceiving how any thing so impalpable as fear at 

 the sight of a bee should be transmitted from parent to offspring. It 

 should be remembered, however, that the permanence of such associa- 

 tions in the history of an individual life depends on the correspond- 

 ing impress given to the nervous organization. We cannot, strictly 



