THE BIRTH OF AN INSTINCT 171 



easily-seized objects — such as bits of grass or fibrous 

 roots — I can see no reason why it should not, by 

 stretching out its neck to such as lay just within its 

 reach, and dropping them, again, when in an easier 

 attitude, make a sort of collection of them close 

 about it — of which, indeed, I will quote an instance 

 farther on. Then if the eggs were laid where the 

 bird had rolled, they would be laid in the midst 

 of such a collection. 



Now, I submit that these curious actions of the 

 peewit, during the breeding time, support the theory 

 of the origin of nest-building, which I have here 

 roughly sketched, if not entirely, at least to a cer- 

 tain extent. They point in that direction. Here 

 we have movements, on the part of both the male 

 and female bird, which are, obviously, of a sexual 

 character, having upon them, I would say, the plain 

 stamp of the primary sexual instinct. They are 

 most marked — or, at any rate, most elaborate — 

 immediately after the actual pairing, commencing, 

 then, in the curious little run and set attitude of the 

 male. Out of, and as a result of, these movements, 

 a depression in the ground, greatly resembling — if 

 not, as I believe, identical with — that in which the 

 eggs are laid, is evolved, and in or about this is 

 shown a tendency to collect sticks, grass, or other 

 loose substances. But how different are these col- 

 lecting movements to those which we see in a bird 

 whose nest-building instinct has become more highly 

 developed ! They seem to be but just emerging 

 from the region of blind forces, to be only half- 

 designed, not yet fully guided by a distinct idea 

 of doing something for a definite end. Yet it is 



