82 FEAR FLIGHT 



Fear. Herrick (1. c. p. 227) considers the instinct of fear to be 

 inherited, but it apparently is often wanting in birds which have never 

 known parental care. I have seen young Wild Geese, which were 

 hatched from eggs taken from a wild bird's nest and placed under a 

 hen, so devoid of the sense of fear that when two weeks old they would 

 attempt to crowd into a hand basin when it was being used; while 

 innumerable instances of birds raised from the nest, which have never 

 developed a sense of fear, could be mentioned. In a state of nature, 

 the young bird does not evince fear until it has acquired sufficient 

 strength to respond to the impulses born of fear; in other words, until 

 it can run, swim, or flutter in the first attempts at flight. 



Flight. Some young birds remain in the nest only a week (e. g. Song 

 Sparrow, House Sparrow), while the wandering Albatross is said not 

 to leave its nest until forced to by the parents at the beginning of the 

 nesting season succeeding its birth. 



It is of interest to note the stimulus which finally induces flight; 

 whether supplied by the parent, for example, through a refusal to 

 bring further food to the nest, or through increasing strength which 

 prompts the bird to make its initial venture in the world. The first 

 flight may be a mere flutter to an adjoining limb, or so well directed 

 that the young bird (e. g. Swallows) directs its movements with the 

 ease, grace, and precision of the adult. 



The nest may now be used as a roosting place; and the young 

 remain under the care of the parents for as much as a month. With the 

 Robin, the male is said to frequent the summer roosts formed by these 

 birds, with the young, while the female incubates the second set of eggs. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THE STUDENT 



Necessity for Concealment. If one would study the habits of birds 

 under natural conditions, it is of the first importance that they be unalarmed 

 by one's presence. With birds, as with man, the consciousness of being 

 under observation induces more or less artificiality of behavior, and if one 

 would gain true insight into either bird-life or human life one's subject 

 should be unaware that it is an object of scrutiny. 



Some nests may be built within range of already existing hiding-places, 

 but in the end it will be found desirable to employ a portable blind such as 

 has been described. During ten years' experience this blind has met 

 many and widely different demands, and whether one uses a camera or only 

 a notebook it will enable one to reach a point of vantage from which either 

 photographs or observations can be satisfactorily made. It is unnecessary 

 to speak of the value of the camera as a means of securing graphic, com- 

 municable records of the life of the nest, but in any event I cannot too 

 strongly urge the use of a blind. When one wishes to have several nests 

 under observation, a blind may be placed and left near each one, and with 

 extremely wary species it may be erected at night. It is then not associated 

 with any cause of alarm, and is more quickly accepted than if the birds 

 were disturbed when it was being set up. It will usually save much time 

 to have a companion accompany you to the blind and depart as you enter it. 

 The impression of fear caused by your approach will be largely dispelled 

 by his withdrawal, since birds do not distinguish between two and one. 



Professor Herrick's plan of cutting off the limb containing the nest 



