342 THE BIOLOGY OF BIRDS 



number out of many cards and bring it to his master. He 

 will catch a two-anna piece which has been thrown into a 

 well before it reaches the water and bring it back. Some 

 of his tricks seem absolutely incredible, and yet one and all 

 may be taught in a couple of days each. The first and most 

 important step in his training is to teach him that an open 

 hand means food and that a closed fist does not. Every- 

 thing hinges on his first mastery of this secret and the rest 

 is simple." In other words, a bird with a fine brain, which 

 in this case had evolved for a long time in connection with 

 the beautiful manipulation of nest-weaving, has very 

 plastic movements and a rapid power of association. 



The Hampton Court maze test has been successfully 

 passed by the common sparrow, the cowbird and the 

 pigeon. In the case of the pigeon the solution remained in 

 the adult bird's possession for a month at least. Sparrows, 

 cowbirds and chicks will also learn to discriminate clear- 

 cut markings on cards, and a few birds have learned simple 

 mechanisms. They usually suffer from inattention. 



There can be little doubt that in the ordinary life of a 

 young bird much depends on estabHshing useful associa- 

 tions. A moorhen chick for whom Professor Lloyd Morgan 

 dug up worms with a spade would soon run to him from 

 some distance when he took the spade in hand. Not from 

 any intelligent appreciation of the spade as a digging instru- 

 ment, but probably because the spade was an element in 

 the mental registration of a pleasant experience. 



The general impression that one gets in regard to the 

 cleverness of birds in such activities as nest-building, 

 capturing booty and deahng with food is that on an instinc- 

 tive basis, varying in definiteness, there is built up a super- 

 structure partly due to early education and subsequent 

 imitation, and partly due to an inteUigent appreciation of 

 the lessons of experience. The difficulty is to say how much 

 is due to the inherited " nature " (the racial legacy of wits 

 or talents) and how much is due to individual " nurture," 

 including in that term not only direct education on the 

 parents' part, but personal experience as well. To decide 



