164 THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 



his peas were thrown out for dinner, to continue his 

 antics as long as the bottle remained there. Some- 

 times this would go on for hours, the other members 

 of the family treating his movements with the most 

 contemptuous indifference and taking no notice what- 

 ever of the bottle. At last it became the regular amuse- 

 ment with which we entertained our visitors, to see 

 this erratic pigeon making love to the interesting ob- 

 ject of his affections, and it was an entertainment which 

 never failed, throughout that summer at least. Be- 

 fore next summer came he was no more." * 



Romanes agrees with the lady who wrote the de- 

 scription in regarding this as a pathological case, but, 

 even if that is correct, still the actions of this pigeon 

 throw some light on the question we have been consid- 

 ering. In order to estimate their real relation to play 

 we must return to our first division, namely, experi- 

 mentation. Since seizing, holding, and carrying things 

 about form one manifestation of experimentation, it is 

 natural that an unusual object should excite the atten- 

 tion and give pleasure to animals. A child, too, takes 

 pleasure in collecting bright objects, and the fact 

 that they, as well as some birds — the warbler, for in- 

 stance — are continually handling their treasures, carry- 

 ing them from place to place and rearranging them, 

 clearly shows the experimental character of such habits. 

 An instinct very closely connected with experimenta- 

 tion, but not yet mentioned, is involved here, for where 

 we find pleasure in power, pleasure in ownership is not 

 far off. James calls this the instinct of appropriation or 

 acquisitiveness. " The beginnings of acquisitiveness," 

 says he, "are seen in the impulse which very young 



* Romanes, Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 173. 



