400 Instinct of Animals.—Instinct of the Turkey. {June I, 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. him in a few seconds. This act of justice 
Sins or of tyranny performed (for I could not 
Ape dispute whether animals be 
guided by instinct or by a reason- 
ing faculty, although, perhaps, an un- 
profitable one, seems to me to be by 
no means decided, However, in ad- 
dressing you, I am far from wishing to 
revive that controversy, and still far- 
ther, to make your valuable pages the 
vehicle of it; my object is only to fur- 
nish you one or two facts, which may 
be of service to the philosopher, while 
they will amuse the general reader. 
I do not know whether the practice 
pursued by the lower orders, in the 
vicinity of Smyrna, by the way of 
amusement, in depriving the brooding 
stork of her eggs, and substituting hens’ 
eggs for them, is generally known. The 
following, however, is the curious re- 
sult related of it. 
«“ As soon as the chicken are hatched, 
and the male stock discovers the pollution 
of his nest by the appearance of those bas- 
tard birds, he raises a tremendous outcry, 
with which he collects all his neighbour 
storks, who, on beholding what they must 
consider as the corpus delicti, instantly fall 
on the innocent mother, and peck her to 
death ; while the deceived mate, standing 
at some distance, seems to bewail his mis- 
fortune by a loud and melancholy clapping 
of his beak.” 
I read this anecdote some time since 
in a respectable German author; but 
should hardly have given credit to the 
circumstance, had I not been in pos- 
session of one.of a similar kind, which 
was related to me several years ago by 
a farmer, who had been an eye-witness 
to the transaction. 
“ A great many storks used to meet 
every autumn on a large meadow near Og- 
gersheim, on the Rhine, there to keep: 
council, as the country people termed it, 
previous to their emigration to distant 
climes. About twenty years ago, when 
they had again assembled in their usual 
place of rendezvous, to the number of 
about; fifty, without being disturbed by the 
people, who were watching them within a 
short distance, they suddenly formed a ring 
round one individual, whose appearance 
bespoke great alarm. One of the party 
then seemed to address the conclave by 
clapping, for about five minutes. This was 
either the party aggrieved, or the diavolus 
regis in person; he was followed by ano- 
ther, by a third, and a fourth, in regular 
succession, each speaking or clapping alone 
without any interruption, not. even that of 
“hear him!” At last, however, they all 
joined in a chorus, and falling on the poor 
culprit or victim in the middle, despatched. 
learn whether the defendant was allowed 
to defend himself, either in person or by 
counsel), they rose up in a body, and, one 
taking the lead, took their flight towards 
the south.” Y. Z. 
i 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
Sir: 
BSERVING in the Monthly Ma- 
gazine, Vol. 59, No. 407, March 
1, 1825, on the 119th page, that the 
writer Enort Smith boldly attempts to 
refute some generally admitted opi- 
nions, beautifully expressed by the poet 
Christopher Smart, concerning the in- 
stinct of the turkey-hen, and the in- 
stinctive obedience of her young ones ; 
I decidedly coincide with the poet 
(notwithstanding the unwillingness of 
Enort Smith to believe it) that the 
turkey does, with that instinct pecu- 
liar to herself, alarm her brood, when 
threatened by surrounding foes, by mo- 
tions, signs and sounds, which they 
neglect not; “soon as her well known 
voice they hear,” the docile group re- 
gard her signal; and they, one and all, 
seek shelter, seem alarmed, and find 
refuge under a dock-leaf, should one 
near offer itself; or, to speak figurately 
with the poet, 
‘* Along the sod, in counterfeited death, 
Mute, montionless they lie.” 
Such is the care of the turkey-hen, and 
the conduct of the brood, which has 
been observed, no doubt, by many. 
Far, too, from possessing negligence 
and inattention, though she may go 
“ clucking heavily about,” she is 
watchful and careful towards her brood, 
should a dog, or the like, approach them. 
With respect to appearances, compared 
with the common hen, I admit she does 
appear, to a negligent observer, “ dudl, 
moping, and inattentive. 
But, if we judge by appearances con- 
cerning her, we err. From what infor- 
mation I can gain on the subject, she is 
far fromnegligentor inattentive, regard- 
ing constantly the wants of her brood. 
As your correspondent Enort Smith 
observes, in some instances, turkey eggs 
are deposited in the common hen’s nest ; 
but.it is because the turkey-hen lays so. 
many more eggs than, she can hatch ; 
and the brood is valuable. Common 
hens’ eggs are also, sometimes, I am 
told, placed under the turkey-hen. 
VINDICATOR. 
Fulbourn, 4th April 1825. 
_THE 
t 
