AN HISTORICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF HOMING. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In 1907, while the senior author was making a study of the nesting behavior 

 of the noddy and sooty terns at Bii'd Key, Tortugas, Florida,* the fact was 

 observed that these birds possess a well-developed homing "sense." Only 

 a few experiments were made at that time (see p. 46), but the results were so 

 promising that Dr. Alfred G. Mayer, Director of the Marine Biological Station 

 of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, made special arrangements for 

 the continuation of the work in 1910, 1912, and 1913. Since the homing sea- 

 son is only 5 to 6 weeks in length (being limited to the laying and brooding 

 periods) , the present summary of the three years' work is far from being satis- 

 factory. Notwithstanding our failure to work out completely the problems of 

 homing in the terns, we feel that we have made so many improvements in our 

 technique — in the matter of caring for the birds on trips, locating them on 

 return, etc., that it is advisable to report both what we have on homing and 

 on the control of homing experiments. Some care has been taken in the pres- 

 ent investigation to supplement the 1907 work on the instinctive life of the 

 terns. This was found to be desirable in view of the fact that in the control 

 of the experiments on homing it becomes essential to have some accurate data 

 on the ability of the birds to swim and to remain on the water at night; the 

 length of time the nesting impulse remains strong; the length of time habits 

 of reacting to one nest and to one mate are retained, etc. The actual experi- 

 mental material on distant orientation will be given in detail, but the observa- 

 tions upon the instincts and habits of the birds will be presented in a more or 

 less abridged form. 



On pages 34 and 35 we give the location of Bird Key, a description of the 

 colony of terns dwelling there, and the complete setting of our experimental 

 work. 



Before presenting our own work we shall give in some detail the general 

 historical setting of the problem of homing in vertebrates. 



HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE PROBLEM OF HOMING. 



Accorchng to Exnerf the problem of homing is a very ancient one. 

 The earliest mention of the use of the homing pigeon is found in the writings 

 of Anacreon (born 550 B. C). The pigeon post as an institution reached 

 probably its highest degree of development in the reign of the Caliphs — in the 

 year 1200 A. D. For hundreds of years the whole of Persia, Servia, and Egypt 

 was covered with pigeon cotes owned by the government, and attached to each 

 was the official post-office and the official postmaster. That the Crusaders used 

 pigeons to transmit messages to their friends and relatives is also well known. 



Probably the use of these birds in times of war, and especially in besieged 

 fortresses, is best known. So important was their use in this respect that 



*John B. Watson: "The Behavior of Noddy and Sooty Terns." Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. 

 103, p. 189. 

 f'Das Rathsel der Brieftauben." Wien, 1892. 



