186 THE BUNTINGS 



sary. But to follow an instinctive inclination an inch or two farther, 

 whether it is necessary or not to do so, though it may be adaptation 

 in the literal sense of the word, hardly seems intelligent adaptation. 



But, in regard to this question of instinct and intelligence, is it 

 not very material first to inquire what are the ordinary necessary 

 variations in the conditions of any bird's building ? No two sites- 

 no two anythings are quite alike, so that an instinct could hardly 

 have arisen at all, that did not include in itself, as it were, a certain 

 power of adaptation or rather what I would say is that the strength 

 of the instinct must have been sufficiently great for it to cover a 

 certain fluctuating margin of deviation. If so, then a power of meet- 

 ing slightly varied conditions, in connection with any instinct, must 

 be in every individual bird, not as part of its individual intelligence, 

 but as part of the instinct itself, which, if of too rigid a nature, would 

 not have sufficiently benefited the species, and would therefore not 

 have become fixed in it. By this I do not mean to deny the 

 modifying influence of reason, or intelligence, proper, but I think we 

 may see it too easily, and to the exclusion of other possible elements. 



The above remarks would apply, also, to the so-called platform of 

 both the yellow-hammer's and cirl-bimting's nest especially that of 

 the former. I have not been able to observe, myself, that any special 

 use is made of this elongation of the rim of the riest, at one point, and 

 am inclined to look upon it as a mere incidental result of the way in 

 which, by its method of building, long grass-stems, etc., are manipu- 

 lated by the bird. Should it, however, be used, in such a way, that 

 would not, in itself, prove that there had been intelligent adaptation. 

 Most birds, whilst attending to the young, perch, more or less fre- 

 quently, on the rim of the nest, and if a certain portion of this, by 

 being wider, were better adapted to such a purpose, then, however 

 this had come about, they would, naturally, take advantage of it, so 

 that their habits, in time, might even be, to some extent, modified. 

 Also, should such a structure become thus undesignedly useful, a 

 bird that had once made it would miss it, if it did not make it again, 



