VI OBSERVATIONS ON CHICKS -ji; 



grain in its beak. A second attempt immediately afterwards 

 likewise failed, but at the third, which succeeded without a 

 pause, the grain w^as grasped and swallowed, and now the 

 little creature went on feeding as though it had done so for 

 years ! The three first pecks at the millet were made in 

 rapid succession, evidently and incontestably with the inten- 

 tion of eating the grain. There must therefore be for the 

 chicken in the form and general appearance of the grain a 

 stimulus which awakes innate conceptions, and causes them 

 to be employed. It was probably not chance that the 

 chicken pecked first at the millet and not at the crushed 

 buckwheat; the natural roitndness and brightness of the 

 millet grains may be supposed to have been the cause. Soon 

 afterwards the chick pecked at the buckwheat and ate some, 

 but like its sister it always preferred the millet. Therefore 

 the question, however hazardous it may seem at first sight, 

 forces itself upon us, whether the chicken did not have an 

 innate idea that millet w^as a more suitable food for it than 

 buckwheat ? The question becomes, however, perfectly natural 

 when I state that the chicken, when I put sand before it 

 shortly afterwards instead of food, pecked at it no more than 

 at the board on which it stood. Unfortunately I omitted at 

 the beginnimx to set before the chicks sand and other kinds 

 of food besides those mentioned, at the same time. 



The white chick also pecked at the millet grains, but 

 missed them repeatedly. 



Thus after the brown chick had eaten abundantly, and the 

 white had made only unsuccessful attempts to do so, I ptit 

 them both back into their basket. 



Three hours afterwards I placed them again on the board, 

 having placed upon it, besides the food, a large drop of water. 



The brown chick immediately began to feed again ; at first 

 it took no notice of the drop of w^ater, but wdien the latter 

 was made to tremble by shaking the board, it immediately 



