184 THE SOCIAL LIFE OF ANIMALS 



Study (9) in which four pens were under observation 

 with five or six pullets in each, out of 4,400 pecks 

 the ranking birds gave 1,800, the second in the lists 

 gave 1,092, and so on in regularly declining num- 

 bers until those next to the bottom gave 136 and 

 the birds that were lowest in their respective flocks 

 gave none at all. 



Murchison has reported a variation of this general 

 rule. In studying the sexual behavior of his birds, 

 of the three cocks that gave the mating reaction the 

 number of treadings stood in direct relation to social 

 position, with the ranking cock treading pullets 

 most frequently. Interestingly enough, the top pullet 

 was also the bird which mated most frequently, and 

 the number of matings of the remaining females 

 was in direct proportion to their social position. 

 This appears to be a special case of the general rule 

 that birds high in the peck-order have more social 

 contacts than those that are low in social rank. 



These are some of the known relationships exist- 

 ing among birds that have a relatively fixed group 

 organization. Schjelderup-Ebbe, (109, 110) who has 

 made observations on over fifty species of birds, in- 

 cluding, besides the common chicken, a sparrow, 

 various ducks, geese, pheasants, cockatoos, parrots, 

 and the common caged canary, is convinced that des- 

 potism is one of the major biological principles; 



