1 82 Habit and Instinct. 



those of another species. When chicks and ducklings are 

 brought up together, they keep to some extent separate, 

 and there is little imitation on the part of either of the 

 habits of the other species. Spalding noted that chicks 

 showed no signs of imitating the peculiar habits of young 

 turkeys in the matter of catching flies. It would seem, 

 indeed, that imitation serves to initiate or to emphasize 

 those activities to the performance of which there is already 

 a congenital bias. Thus a blackbird which had been in cap- 

 tivity for two years in a large aviary, and had never been 

 mated or troubled with family cares, seeing some recently 

 introduced young thrushes fed by their parents through 

 the bars, began himself to feed them in a similar manner.* 

 Here an activity to which there is a congenital bias was 

 called into play through the suggestive touch of imitation. 



If, then, the young have a tendency to imitate the actions 

 of their parents ; if, too, among the members of gregarious 

 species, there is much imitation ; — it is clear that we have 

 here a conservative factor in animal life of no slight 

 importance. Just as imitation is of great value in 

 bringing the human child to the level of the adults who 

 form the family and social environment, so too does the 

 less fully conscious imitation of the lower animals serve to 

 bring the young bird or other creature into line with the 

 members of its own species. 



I have several times observed that, in broods of chicks 

 brought up under experimental conditions by themselves, 

 and without opportunities of imitating older birds, there 

 are one or two more active, vigorous, intelligent, and 

 mischievous birds. They are the leaders of the brood ; 

 the others are their imitators. Their presence raises the 

 general level of intelligent activity. Eemove them, and 

 the others show a less active, less inquisitive, less 

 * Nature, vol. xlviii. p. 369. Letter signed ''E. Boscher." 



