Tameness of the Birds. 1 1 1 



the ocean between the islands, and their apparently 

 recent (in a geological sense) volcanic origin, render 

 it highly unlikely that they were ever united ; and 

 this, probably, is a far more important consideration 

 than any other, with respect to the geographical 

 distribution of their inhabitants. Reviewing the 

 facts here given, one is astonished at the amount of 

 creative force, if such an expression may be used, 

 displayed on these small, barren, and rocky islands, 

 and still more so at its diverse yet analogous action 

 on points so near each other. I have said that the 

 Galapagos Archipelago might be called a satellite 

 attached to America, but it should rather be called 

 a group of satellites, physically similar, organically 

 distinct, yet intimately related to each other, and 

 all related in a marked though much lesser degree, 

 to the great American continent." 



One of the most singular, indeed remarkable, feat- 

 ures of life here was the tameness of the birds. 

 They did not appear to know what a man was, and 

 could be picked up by the hand or killed with a 

 switch. Darwin frequently caught them in his hat, 

 and actually pushed a hawk from a limb on which it 

 was perched. While lying upon a rock, a mocking- 

 bird alighted upon a pitcher by his side, and began 

 to sip the water, allowing him to take the vessel 

 from the ground while upon it. On Charles Island 

 he saw a boy sitting by a well with a bunch of dead 

 birds which he had killed with a switch as they came 

 there to drink. 



From these observations the naturalist concluded 

 that " the wildness of birds with regard to man is a 



