THE IBIS. 



ELEVENTH SERIES. 



YoL. IV. No. 2. APRIL 1922. 



XIII. — On the Sense of Smell possessed hj Birds. 

 By J. H. Gfrnev, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 



(Plate I.) 



Part I. Evidence opposed to a sense of smell. 

 Part II. Evidence in favour of it. 

 Part III. The -nriter's conclusions. 



PART I. 



The Theory of Scent. — There are certain things in the 

 reahns of Ornithology -which commonly pass as instinct for 

 want of a better name, but which really are a recognisable 

 part of a bird's economy ; yet these phases to which I allude 

 are natural enough, being merely due to the normal em- 

 ployment of one or other of the senses — seeing, hearing, 

 tasting, touching, smelling. All are at times rather in- 

 comprehensible, but the most perplexing is the capacity 

 for scent, — alleged by some, denied by others. So far, 

 discussion on this vexed question has been rather desul- 

 tory, with the result that it. has always ended in very little. 

 The most experienced enquirers are left in a state of un- 

 certainty as to whether birds find their food and shun their 



SER. XI. — VOL. IV. y 



