46 BIRD-SONGS. 



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- 

 burly we should have among the birds ! There 



