296 



when I missed it from the perches it was some minutes 

 before I found its body, and it was only when I in- 

 vestigated an eminence in the sand at the side of the 

 seed box, with a few discrete feather tips emerging 

 above the surface, that I was able to discover the 

 traged3^ The bod}^ was not quite cold. The affair 

 presents a problem to those interested in the psych- 

 ology of the lower animals. Those who have kept 

 Quails are well aware that they scratch holes in which 

 to squat, but in this case there was no special appear- 

 ance of any hole alongside the dead bird. The sand 

 seemed to have been taken up from all sides. 



In previous winters it has always been my custom 

 to remove the ice from the drinking pans and supply ■ 

 fresh water both morning and afternoon. This winter 

 however, owing to the abnormal pressure of pro- 

 fessional work, I have only been able to do this once a 

 day, between one and two o'clock, and I have found 

 this quite sufficient. The first time it occurred it was 

 absolutely unavoidable, and when at last I was able 

 to repair the omission of the morning, in spite of 

 one's knowledge that thirst depends largely upon 

 the amount of evaporation from the body surfaces, I 

 expected to find an eager crowd tumbling over one 

 another to relieve their cravings. I was therefore 

 somewhat surprised to see that many of the birds did 

 not come down at all for some minutes, although I 

 retired to the other side of the garden well away from 

 their neighbourhood. Since then I have felt no 

 qualms of conscience. 



Birds also appear to vary specifically in their be- 

 haviour with respect to water, for while the Canaries 

 bathe directly water is substituted for ice, many of the 



