30 BULLETIN 208, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



quite numerous in animals, even though the individual instances may 

 be difficult to explain. A great many small birds announce or indi- 

 cate by their actions to other creatures, including man, the presence 

 of a dangerous beast just as they may reveal the presence of a stalking 

 hunter to his otherwise unsuspecting quarry. But the idea of leading 

 humans to something is strange, especially when one considers the 

 common tendency of birds to lead one away from something — from 

 a nest, from their young, etc. The only instance Hoesch could recall 

 of a bird leading to something was an experience in which two rollers 

 {Coracias mozamhicus) led him with excited cries about 300 meters to 

 a genet caught in a trap, and he stresses that in this incident there 

 were two things of note: a goal or object to which the leading was 

 directed, and a human that was the releasing object of this behavior. 

 From this case and from a rather superficial acquaintance with the 

 guiding behavior of the honey-guide, Hoesch's thinking apparently 

 was oriented towards the conclusion that guiding is, or originally was, 

 basically a matter of leading a human to a dangerous enemy whose 

 presence caused a state of excitement in the guide. 



While the case of the rollers leading to a trapped genet may well 

 be correctly presented and interpreted, it is not admissible to carry 

 this reasoning over into the ordinary guiding to a bees' nest. As we 

 shall see later, when the guiding bird begins to lead it does not 

 necessarily, or even frequently, laiow where it is going to stop. There 

 is no reason for assuming that it always has any conscious goal. 

 Furthermore, Hoesch's exposition makes the matter of "announcing" 

 or "indicating" the presence of something the end, or the basic portion, 

 of the habit, while "leading" or "guiding" a follower to this object is 

 merely a means to the end. The actual behavior of the honey-guide 

 is, however, quite different. After all the effort and excitement of 

 "guiding," the bird often merely becomes quiet and silent when it 

 nears the goal. As far as direct, unaided observation of the bird goes, 

 there is no indication of any increase in tension or excitation as the 

 "goal" is approached; frequently quite the opposite Hoesch's whole 

 discussion seems to have no basis in familiarity with the guiding 

 habit at first hand, and, indeed, in the report by Niethammer and 

 himself the species Indicator indicator is not even listed. 



Recently Toschi (1949, pp. 12-17) discussed the subject and con- 

 sidered that the guiding behavior was not unique but partook of the 

 same elements as the alarm reactions with which small birds indicate 

 the presence of enemies, thus agreeing in his basic considerations with 

 Hoesch, of whose paper he appears to be unaware. Toschi's presenta- 

 tion is less coherent and less convincing than Hoesch's, but he con- 

 cludes with a statement to the effect that a beehive with its numerous 

 individuals may be an entity of considerable significance in the ecology 



