000 STUDY OF BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



3. PARTICULAR 



1. Gestures. All movements intended to give expression to the bird's conscious states. 



(a) Expression of sex emotions. Exact descriptions of the gesture (display, attitude, move- 

 ments). By which sex. How many individuals take part. Are the gestures before and after 

 mating the same ? Gestures performed by a bird when alone. Is there display of special 

 features ? (plumes, colours, wattles, etc.). Does the hen select, or is she merely appropriated, or 

 does she simply mate with the cock in possession of the nesting area, whether it be her former 

 mate or not ? If the hen selects, what appears to govern her selection; has she chosen the 

 strongest, etc. ? Does the species under observation pair for life, and, if so, are there sex displays 

 by one or both of the pair ? Relation of sex gestures to the act of coition. Is a love gesture 

 made to serve for the expression of emotions other than sexual ? Note differences in the gestures 

 made by individuals of a species, and those of species in the same group. Literature: C. 

 Darwin, Descent of Man, 2nd edition, chaps, viii., xiii.-xvi. ; A. R. Wallace, Darwinism, 

 chap. x. ; Lloyd Morgan, Animal Behaviour, pp. 258-269 ; J. T. Cunningham, Sexual Dimor- 

 phism in the Animal Kingdom. 



(b) Expression of states of mind other than sexual. Exact description of the gestures used 

 to express anger, fear, and any other state of mind other than love. On what occasion. Note 

 case of gestures made to serve more than one purpose, and of gestures with apparently different 

 meanings being used on the same occasion. Can the gesture be explained by any of the three 

 principles laid down by Darwin in his Expression of the Emotions (Murray) ? See also 6 (c). 



(c) Play of birds. Exact description, and occasion when used. By young or adult. Age 

 of young. Literature : Lloyd Morgan, Animal Behaviour, pp. 248-258 ; Karl Groos, Spiele der 

 Thiere, 1907, 2nd edition (Fischer, Jena); Play of Animals (translation of first edition, 1900). 



2. Song and Notes. These, like gestures, are means of expression, and have been little 

 studied. 



(a) Song. Occasions on which used (sex-excitement, fighting, in winter, e.g. robins). For 

 question of instinct, note first efforts of young, all possibility of imitation being excluded. 

 Variation in song of individuals of same species, and same individuals at different times, in 

 respect to length, notes, quality. Analysis of song : how far made up of call-notes, etc. ; of new 

 notes ; of imitations. Is imitation of the notes of another species (1) normally an important 

 factor in the song of the species observed, (2) only occasionally present, (3) absent. 

 Months when species sings. At night ? Does hen sing ? When ? Literature : Lloyd Morgan, 



{obit and Instinct, pp. 178, 229. 



(b) Notes. Occasion on which different notes of a species used. Instinctive or acquired ? 

 Individual variations in pitch, etc. Differences in notes of sexes, of adult and young. Compari- 

 son of notes of related species, especially of the young. This almost impossible, however, 

 without a phonetic notation. For notes as means of intercommunication, see Lloyd Morgan, 

 Animal Behaviour, chap. v. 2. 



3. Nest-building. (a) Nest-area. Do the pair confine themselves within a definite area ? 

 Map of adjacent areas of individuals of same species. Relations of adjacent pairs of same and 

 different species. How are the boundaries of areas determined. Relation to sexual selection 

 theory. See 1 (a). Date on which nest-area left. 



(6) Site. By which sex chosen. Date on which chosen. Is there final selection from 

 more than one site ? (Ways of showing choice. Placing nest material, making scrape in ground 

 going in and out of hole.) 



\c) Nest. (Definition : any place for the eggs made by the bird. An unlined scrape is a 

 nest, an unlined depression on a rock is not.) Note whether ground nest-scrapes are left unlined, 

 or are lined previous to or after laying ; material used. Whether hole nests are lined or unlined ; 



