852 THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 



birds, though it is strengthened by experience, and bjr 

 the sight of fear of the same enemy in other animals. 

 The fear of man is slowly acquired, as I have elsewhere 

 shown, by the various animals which inhabit desert isl- 

 ands; and we see an instance of this even in England, in 

 the greater wildness of all our large birds in comparison 

 with our small birds; for the large birds have been most 

 persecuted by man. We may safely attribute the greater 

 wildness of our large birds to this cause; for in uninhab- 

 ited islands large birds are not more fearful than small; 

 and the magpie, so wary in England, is tame in Norway, 

 as is the hooded crow in Egypt. 



That the mental qualities of animals of the same kind, 

 born in a state of nature, vary much, could be shown by 

 many facts. Several cases could also be adduced of occa- 

 Bional and strange habits in wild animals, which, if ad- 

 vantageous to the species, might have given rise, through 

 natural selection, to new instincts. But I am well aware 

 that these general statements, without the facts in detail, 

 will produce but a feeble eSect on the reader's mind. I 

 can only repeat my assurance that I do not speak with- 

 out good evidence. 



Inherited Changes of Hahit or Instinct in Domesticated 



Animals 



The possibility, or even probability, of inherited varia- 

 tions of instinct in a state of nature will be strengthened 

 by briefly considering a few cases under domestication. 

 We shall thus be enabled to see the part which habit 

 and the selection of so-called spontaneous variations have 

 played in modifying the mental qualities of our domestic 

 animals. It is notorious how much domestic animals vary 



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