THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 107 



says of young birds learning to walk: " The first move- 

 ments seem to be not on the toes, but on the heels. 

 If they are hurried, the birds tip forward, steadying 

 themselves with their Vvings." Biichner describes the 

 walking of little chickens, from Stiebeling's observa- 

 tions: "The chicken begins, probably about two hours 

 after it breaks the shell, to make feeble attempts at 

 walking, in which the wings serve as crutches. He 

 rises and sinks again, falls down and gets up again, so 

 that the whole process is more a slide than a walk. It 

 learns to walk in from five to eight hours if its mother 

 helps it, but from eight to sixteen hours are needed 

 if the chicks are separated from the hen as soon as 

 hatched." * 



Such movements can of course be considered as 

 play only so long as they are simply exercise. As soon, 

 as the bird is far enough on to turn his flying to ac- 

 count in the search for food, play changes to seri- 

 ous activity. This transition takes place very quickly 

 in birds, but their short time for practice is just as 

 really a playtime as is the longer period of beasts of 

 prey. 



Some phenomena belonging to migration ought per- 

 haps to be mentioned in this connection. That this 

 impulse is instinctive is witnessed to by the classic orni- 

 thologist Naumann, in a passage already quoted. " The 

 impulse to seek a warmer climate," he says, " is heredi- 

 tary in these birds. Young birds taken from the nest 

 and placed in a large room, where they are allowed to 

 fly about freely, prove this conclusively. They are rest- 

 less at night during the season for their migration, just 



* IbifL. p. 31. From Stiebeling's Instinct in Chickens and 

 Ducks, New York, 1872. 



