COURTSHIP IN BIRDS 249 



grackle will dip a tough bit of biscuit in the water 

 for the same purpose, and a man will soften a 

 hard crust in his coffee. How much is sub-con- 

 scious instinct or reflex action in some or all of 

 these cases and how much is self-conscious reason- 

 ing and forethought — it is not my purpose to dis- 

 cuss here. To call it instinct in all cases in the 

 lower animals and reason in all cases in man may 

 possibly savor of conceit. 



The desire to live, to obtain food and to mate 

 are primitive inborn instincts common to both the 

 lower animals and to man. To gratify these in- 

 stincts similar actions are resorted to by both the 

 lower animals and man. The actions of a child 

 desiring food from a table and those of a dog un- 

 der the same circumstances are very much alike. 

 Each appeals by voice and actions for the food, 

 each is anxious to please the owner oi the 

 food, and each — unless the point has been 

 reached in its experience of life when it fears 

 the consequences of unlawful acts — will avail 

 itself of an opportunity to surreptitiously snatch 

 the food. 



In the same wav the desin^ of the malr bird 



