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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



cuckoo and the American cowbird, the young of which are reared by 

 foster-parents of many diverse species, would argue for little power in 

 this direction. Yet, in some cases, the foreign body is promptly re- 

 moved, when the nest is not summarily deserted through fear. 



The freedom with which certain finches and grosbeaks learn to 

 imitate difficult notes, and the fair degree of precision with which some 



Fig. 34. The same Flicker as shown in Fig. 33, after new habit of entering 

 opened nest was formed. 



of the parrots, crows, jays, jackdaws and magpies reproduce spoken 

 words, or even short sentences, show that they readily discriminate 

 differences in the pitch of sounds, although they do not possess a cochlea 

 of the complexity of structure found in mammals, and it is the cochlea 

 in which this power is supposed to reside in man. It is interesting to 

 note that the magpie, though a star performer in this art, never exhibits 

 it, according to Blackwall, in a state of nature. 



The bower birds of Australia show a decided liking for bright and 

 colored objects of various kinds, which they work into their remarkable 

 " runs," bowers, or " play-houses," and the crow, and other members 

 of his tribe, which are commonly regarded as the most intelligent of 

 birds, can seldom be trusted in the presence of any small and shining 

 objects whatsoever, which they will steal, and either carry off and hide, 

 or work into their nests. To mention a trivial case — a tame young 

 crow once entered my room, made off with some objects on the dressing 

 table, and deposited them on a belfry-roof hard by. Again, the hooded 



