THE PROBLEM OF DOMESTICATION Z2i}h 



haunt the seas can easily be accustomed to man. A few of 

 these species which have been reduced to captivity have not 

 become sufficiently reconciled to the unnatural conditions 

 to maintain their breedino- habits. Even in these cases, how- 

 ever, it seems likely that in spacious aviaries, at least in 

 climates to which they are accustomed, it will be possible 

 to secure the continuous reproduction of the kind, on which 

 all development by the breeder's art depends. 



The ease with which most birds, except those of prey, 

 may be reduced to domestication is due to the remarkable 

 intensity of their sympathetic motives. In this regard the 

 class is much more advanced than that of the mammalia 

 to which we ourselves belong. Accustomed as they are to 

 ceaseless and active intercourse with each other by means 

 of their varied calls, largely endowed with the faculty of atten- 

 tion, and provided with fairly retentive memories, the birds 

 are, on the average, nearer in the qualities of their intelli- 

 gence to man than are many of the species in his own 

 class. It was long ago remarked that the birds of remote 

 islands, such as the Galapagos, which had never seen man, 

 were at first not in the least afraid of him. It required, how- 

 ever, but a few generations of experience to show these creat- 

 ures that the unfeathered biped was a singularly dangerous 

 animal, and they at once and permanently adopted the habit 

 of avoiding him. This incident of itself shows how quick 

 birds are to learn certain large and important lessons. We 

 see also the reverse of this education in fear in the rapid way 

 in which birds become tame when they are secured from per- 

 secution. Wherever shooting is stopped over a considerable 

 territory the birds rapidly become more tolerant of man's 

 presence. Even among migratory species the individuals 



