362 K. S. LASHLEY 



The older literature of animal psychology abounds with anec- 

 dotes designed to display the intelligence of the parrots, but 

 there has been no experimental study of the birds and nothing 

 is known of the manner in which they learn to speak; whether 

 by direct imitation, by the gradual imitative modification of 

 instinctive notes or by chance combinations of instinctive notes 

 which, meeting the approval of the trainer, are rewarded and 

 so "set" in memory. Certain preliminary questions arise before 

 it is possible to attack the problem of the method of learning. 

 What is the instinctive equipment of the bird, his notes, his 

 ability to distinguish pitch and timbre, etc. ? To what extent 

 does auditory stimulation modify his behavior? What is the 

 role of imitation in the reactions of the trained bird? What is 

 the motive for the reproduction of non-instinctive sounds? 



The following observations suggest answers to these ques- 

 tions but, because of their limited scope, can not be looked 

 upon as at all conclusive. 



The method of experiment used was very simple. The bird 

 was perched upon the back of a chair and various sounds were 

 made, his first response to each alone being considered. At 

 the beginning of each series of tests a melody was played to 

 get him to respond more readily. In experiment 3 the pitch 

 of stimulus and response were determined by the help of a piano. 



EXPERIMENT 1. TIMBRE 



Whistling and singing tones were given in irregular order as 

 stimuli and the bird's first response was recorded. The results 

 may be summarized as follows : 



30 whistling tones, produced by the lips and by a small metal 

 whistle, were in every case followed by a distinct whistling tone 

 in response. 



31 singing tones from violin, cello, piano and voice were 

 followed by singing tones in 29 cases and twice by whistling. 

 Other tests, given with another purpose, confirm these results 

 and extend the observations to more than 100 cases. 



It is unfortunate that control experiments in which the ex- 

 perimenter remained hidden from the bird could not be carried 

 out. Before the first tests were undertaken, while I was talking 

 in a room w T here the bird could not see me, he began to chatter 

 in a low pitched tone and I induced him to whistle, sing and 



