Fear in Birds 219 



under one's hand very confidingly." I once saw a nest of this 

 species on the shore of Lake Champlain, near Burlington, Ver- 

 mont, on the very verge of a high, overhanging cliff. It was 

 set against the stems of a slender shrub, the pulling of which 

 would doubtless have precipitated the entire clutch fifty feet 

 into the water below. A little delay in the instinctive reaction 

 of fear could hardly come amiss to young in such a nest. On the 

 other hand when the ducklings have been led to the water no 

 birds show a keener sense of fear than they or respond more 

 promptly to the alarm signals of their parents. I was greatly 

 impressed when a boy at the sight of a Black Duck leading her 

 trim little fleet of yellow sail up the mouth of a small sedge- 

 bordered stream. The old bird quickly gave the alarm, rose, 

 veered, and flew towards the river, while the young scrambled 

 to the bank and hid in the rushes. I hunted long but succeeded 

 in finding only one that lay flat in the marsh and kept perfectly 

 still, true to its inherited instinct. These ducklings had not 

 been afloat many hours, and had this action been repeated 

 before, the lesson could not have been taught, since, as we have 

 seen, the young under such circumstances are left to their own 

 devices. 



I have seen a young chick while feeding quietly close to the 

 house suddenly turn its head, look straight at the zenith, and 

 then run off in a panic of fear. Looking up also I saw a Hen 

 Hawk sailing aloft like a toy kite, a mere speck against the blue 

 heavens. I think it probable that the bird got an alarm signal 

 from some other fowls in the yard ; at all events it knew where 

 to look, and its response was not slow. This chicken may have 

 been three weeks old, and so had ample time to learn its lesson, 

 if such it was. Had the dark object been a paper kite, it is not 

 likely that the fear evoked would have been appreciably less. 



In altricial birds the sense of fear usually comes, as we have 

 seen, with the development of the flight feathers, but it is often 

 premature, thus indirectly causing the death of thousands of 

 birds every year. In July and August how many helpless 

 Sparrows and Thrushes are found on the ground, having left 

 their nests too early! Sometimes they tumble out by accident. 



