JOURNAL OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR 



Vol. 7 JULY-AUGUST No. 4 



THE FEEDING OF NESTLING BIRDS * 



T. C. STEPHENS 



Biological Laboratory of Morningside College, and the 

 Iowa Lakeside Laboratory 



As a basis for the discussion which will follow I wish to 

 inquire into the validity of field study as a method of developing 

 our knowledge of bird-life. In a broad sense, by the term 

 ' field study ' ' we mean the study of the living animal in its 

 native habitat, under normal conditions; or under abnormal 

 conditions which are known and determined. 



It seems to me that it must be accepted as axiomatic that 

 we have no other method of approach to certain problems of 

 behavior. Even if this is true, however, it does not follow that 

 the results obtained by such method are any the less subject 

 to scrutiny and criticism. We must demand of the field zoologist 

 the same accuracy of observation, the same careful exclusion 

 of uncertainties, and the same rigid logic that we require of 

 the worker in the laboratory. The observational and experi- 

 mental methods are open to the one who will attempt to solve 

 the problems of nature in the field. The laboratory worker 

 relies upon the same methods. 



I would contend, therefore, that the reliability of field studies 

 stands in direct ratio to the scientific spirit of the investigator. 

 The value of a report based upon field studies cannot be judged 

 apart from the personal equation; and is this not true of every 

 kind of investigation? Do we not require that research carried 



* Address of retiring president of the Wilson Ornithological Club at its third 

 annual meeting, at Columbus, O., December 29, 1915. 



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