BIRDS AS AUTOMATA 



j "^HE sudden change that comes over the 



nature of most birds at the nesting season is, 



perhaps, the most wonderful phenomenon 



in nature. Active, restless birds, which 



normally spend the whole day on the wing, are content 



to sit motionless in a cramped position upon the nest for 



hours together. Birds of prey, whose nature it is to 



devour every helpless creature that comes within their 



grasp, behave most tenderly towards their young, actually 



disgorging swallowed food in order to provide them with 



a meal. Timid birds become bold. Those which under 



ordinary circumstances will not permit a human being 



to approach near them, will sometimes, while brooding, 



actually allow themselves to be lifted off the nest. 



At the breeding season intelligence, which counsels 

 self-preservation, gives way before the parental instinct, 

 which causes birds to expose themselves to danger, and, 

 in some cases, even to sacrifice their lives for the sake of 

 their offspring. 



From the construction of the nest until the time when 

 the young ones are fledged the actions of the parent 

 birds are, at any rate in the neighbourhood of the nest, 

 those of automata, rather than of creatures endowed with 

 intelligence. 



104 



