120 REPORTS 01^ INVEISTIGATIONS AND PROJEICTS. 



Prof. John B. Watson carried out what I believe to be the first continuous 

 series of observations of the reactions and instincts of sea-gulls during their 

 nesting period. His preliminary report gives an inadequate idea of the 

 remarkable extent of his experiments or of the clearness of his results. 

 Among other things, he demonstrated that if the sooty terns and noddies 

 were taken to Cape Hatteras and then liberated they would return to their 

 nests on Bird Key Tortugas, a distance of 850 statute miles from their place 

 of liberation. 



As Professor Watson states in his preliminary report, one season's work 

 is not sufficient in which to complete the study of so complex a series of 

 instinctive reactions as those of nesting gulls, and it is to be hoped that he 

 may continue his observations. 



His studies were carried out under circumstances so trying that but few 

 men of science would have had the resolution or have maintained the interest 

 necessar}^ to conduct the experiments. He lived continuously upon Bird Key 

 for 2 months, through the hottest season, when the temperature of the sand 

 upon which the birds lay their eggs rose to 120° K. He lived in the old 

 deserted yellow-fever hospital which was used when the island was a quaran- 

 tine station, yet he pursued his observations with an energy and devotion 

 rarely surpassed. 



Professor Watson's preliminary report is as follows : 



A Resume of a Study upon the Behavior of Noddy and Sooty Terns Carried 

 on at Bird Key during the Spring of iQcy, by John B. Watson, University 

 of Chicago. 



From May 2 to July 18, accurate field observations were made upon the 

 instinctive life of noddy and sooty terns. The complete report of this work 

 will include the behavior of the birds during the laying, brooding, and rearing 

 periods. These birds have a large series of instinctive activities, which are 

 displayed in rhythmical order, depending upon the state of advancement of 

 the nesting period. The attempt was made accurately to determine : 



( 1 ) The natural stimuli calling forth the instinctive responses. 



(2) The extent to which these responses are variable. 



The work here, as elsewhere, is preliminary. The life of the birds is so 

 complex, and its study so beset with difficulties, that one season of observa- 

 tion can nowhere give final results. It is worthy of note here, that an 

 accurate study of the instinctive life of the birds must be at hand before con- 

 trolled experimentation can be undertaken. The study of the psychology of 

 any particular species of animal becomes possible and' practicable only after 

 its hereditary coordinations have been carefully noted. 



Controlled experimentation as contrasted with field observation was under- 

 taken in two ways : (i) By using the "nest environment" (possible only after 

 the tgg has been laid) as a stimulus ; (2) by using hunger as a stimulus with 

 young birds reared by hand. 



(i) The writer found that the "nest environment" was a stimulus suffi- 

 ciently strong to force the birds to overcom,e difficulties in getting to the nest ; 

 consequently we have here a method for controlling the reactions of the birds 



