l82 THE SOCIAL LIFE OF ANIMALS 



flock, he avoided contacts with others as much as 

 possible, and spent a great deal of his time crowding 

 under a low shelf on which the water dish was kept. 

 In our experience, the lowest ranking chicken in a 

 flock tends to avoid social contacts as BR did after 

 his fall from superior position. Frequently the low- 

 ranking birds show many objective signs of fear. 

 They spend time in out-of-the-way places, feed after 

 others have fed, and make their way around cau- 

 tiously, apparently with an eye out to avoid con- 

 tacts. The lowest ranking birds may appear lean, and 

 their plumage is somewhat more rumpled because 

 they have less time to arrange it. Dominant birds, 

 on the other hand, are characterized by a complete 

 absence of signs of fear or of any attempt to avoid 

 birds of lower ranks. Some birds, usually those high 

 in the peck-order but not at the top of it, show few 

 avoiding reactions to their superiors, and, when 

 pecked, apparently take it lightly and pass on. 



Chickens show some other interesting reactions 

 which are related to their position in the social 

 hierarchy to which they belong. Professor Murchi- 

 son, a psychologist at Clark University, has reported 

 studies on the behavior of a flock of six cocks and 

 five pullets. (83) In one series of experiments pair 

 after pair of the cocks were selected at random and 

 placed at either end of a narrow runway behind 



