46 BIRDGBONGS. 
part of the general subject of animal intelli- 
gence, a subject much discussed in these days 
on account of its bearing upon the modern doc- 
trine concerning the relation of man to the in- 
ferior orders. 
We have nothing to do with such a theme, 
but it may not be out of place to suggest to 
preachers and moralists that here is a striking 
and unhackneyed illustration of the force of 
early training. Birds sing by imitation, it is 
true, but as a rule they imitate only the notes 
which they hear during the first few weeks 
after they are hatched. One of Mr. Barring- 
ton’s linnets, for example, after being educated 
under a titlark, was put into a room with two 
birds of his own species, where he heard them 
sing freely every day for three months. He 
made no attempt to learn anything from them, 
however, but kept on practicing what the tit- 
lark had taught him, quite unconscious of any- 
thing singular or unpatriotic in such a course. 
This law, that impressions received during the 
immaturity of the powers become the unalter- 
able habit of the after life, is perhaps the most 
momentous of all the laws in whose power we 
find ourselves. Sometimes we are tempted to 
call it cruel. But if it were annulled, this 
would be a strange world. What a_ hurly- 
hurly we should have among the birds! There 
