Fear in Birds 



217 



The instinct of fear comes with a certain maturity of the 

 nervous system, with comparative suddenness, as we have just 

 seen, but is usually timed to correspond with the development 

 of the wing-quills and the power of flight. 



Fig. 131. Young Kingfishers twenty-four days old. They are capable of flight but 

 show no fear. 



At the age of twenty-four days the Kingfisher is in full feather, 

 but shows no fear. He will perch comfortably on your hand or 

 shoulder, and pose in any desired position, as the photographs 

 made at this period will show, but the instinct soon appears 

 after this stage is passed. In from twenty-four to forty-eight 

 hours later, when these birds not only possess the power of 

 flight but use it at the first intimation of danger, their docile na- 

 ture has completely changed. With them the late development 



