CHAPTER XIV 



FEAR IN BIRDS 



BIRDS as a rule are possessed of fear, which is primarily an 

 instinct, but, as we shall see later on, many species in their 

 natural adult state are entirely devoid of this sense. With 

 others it may wax or wane according to their environment or 

 individual experiences. Again, the nature of the fear manifested 

 varies with age or the period of life. It is a generalized sense of 

 fear, or fear of the strange and unusual, which comes over the 

 young bird, while later it learns to dread particular objects or 

 sounds with which some bitter experience is associated. Further- 

 more, the time of the appearance of the instinct varies in different 

 species, coming late in some and early in others. Generally 

 speaking the manifestation of fear is well timed, and is an adap- 

 tation for the good of its possessor. 



Let us first see how fear enters into the life of the young. 

 Birds are sometimes roughly classified into altricial species, 

 which feed their young for days or weeks at the nest, and prseco- 

 cial birds, whose young are born clad in soft down, and are able 

 to walk, run, or swim at once or very soon after hatching. The 

 Altrices, like the Robin, Woodpecker, and Humming-bird, are 

 hatched from eggs which are small in relation to the size of the 

 parent, and the young are at first blind, helpless, and more or 

 less completely naked. In all such the nest is only a temporary 

 home, but is often very elaborate, while the instinct of fear is 

 delayed or deferred until the time of flight, a period varying 

 from a few days to three weeks or more. The Praecoces lay eggs 

 with big yolks, upon the stored energy of which the unhatched 

 young subsist until they step forth into the world, seeing, able 



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