i88 THE BIOLOGY OF THE SEASONS 



darker spots, one felt that the bird had not settled down 

 to any particular colour or pattern. As in another well- 

 known case, the guillemot, the coloration is still varying 

 copiously. In both cases, it may be said that the locality 

 in which the eggs are laid makes the colour immaterial, 

 or at all events unimportant. One felt also that if cir- 

 cumstances should arise in which it became of survival 

 value that the eggs should be of a particular coloration, 

 there was present abundant raw material from which to 

 select. 



Some eggs removed from the nests were transferred to 

 an incubator in the laboratory, and hatched there the 

 usual method in an inquiry into instinctive behaviour. 

 Observations immediately after the artificial hatching were 

 rendered difficult by the imperfect warm-bloodedness 

 of the young birds. When removed from the incubator 

 or from a warmed box they were in a few minutes oppressed 

 by the cold, and uttered their cry of discomfort almost 

 continuously. As observations under conditions of dis- 

 comfort are fallacious, the birds were at first studied only 

 for a few minutes at a time. 



Hatched with open eyes, which did not wink on the 

 approach of a finger, the young birds showed no sign of 

 any fear. A notable fact indeed was their extraordinary 

 self-possession throughout, though suspiciousness gradually 

 grew on them. It may here be noted that in early days 

 the presence of a cat or a dog did not seem to excite any 

 attention ; later on there was complete attention, but no 

 apparent fear. A gull two or three weeks old will run at a 

 fox-terrier and peck its nose ; but later on, before they 

 fly off, when about a month old, the birds utter the alarm 

 cry and retreat on the sudden appearance of a cat or dog. 



Within a few hours after hatching the young birds 

 pecked at a finger or at a spoon, held close to them, with or 



