THE HOMING INSTINCT. 127 



another female that was ready to mate. He accepted her and they went to work. He was 

 then put into the same dove-cote as before. This time he apparently decided it was best 

 to stay and he did not go back to his old home again. 



On several different summers 1 have taken my birds from Chicago to Woods Hole, 

 and I find those that have been to the latter place before have no trouble whatever in 

 remembering where they were previously located ; that is, whether on the west side of the 

 barn or on the east side, or the south or north. The dove-cote holes are in different places 

 and it is very curious to watch a bird and see him go straight back to his old home; even 

 the manner of flying down from the roof of the house to his cot is simply a repetition of 

 what he has done hundreds of times before. He takes the proper precaution, if his mate 

 is out of sight, comes down and alights on the dove-stand, just as perfectly as he did it a 

 year before. I am inclined to think these birds have as good a memory as we have. 



The question of the relation of inheritance to behavior may next be briefly considered. 

 In the first place, it may be said that the behavior of pigeons is inherited just as much as 

 anything else is inherited; and, with the proper qualifications, the same may be said for 

 the behavior of the homing pigeons. I should not, of course, claim that the pigeon inherits 

 "the want to find its way"; it inherits "the way to learn." The young bird in the nest is 

 a homer from the beginning. He sits in the nest and has a home-like air. Let him be taken 

 away, only a little away, and he is frightened and wants to get back. As soon as he gets 

 into the nest he feels at home. Very soon after they get their feathers the young birds begin 

 to get out of the nest. First of all, they get to the ends of the cot where they live just 

 experimenting; but if any noise is made, anything that startles them, you see them hustling 

 back to the boxes in which they have lived. In the same way they learn their way out 

 of the dove-cote. They look out of the window first and then they venture to step out on 

 the platform and sit there a second or two the first time; the second time they are less 

 fearful, sit longer, shake their wings, etc., and then get back. Perhaps the next day they 

 sit longer, and after 2 or 3 days they venture to fly down. They see the old birds and recog- 

 nize them on the stand, and are afforded a pretty good chance of finding their way back 

 in that way. Usually they are pretty careful not to get more than a few feet away. They 

 really learn every step of their way. The homing instinct is something that is perfectly 

 natural to them. (SS 10.) 



On this topic the editor appends the following quotation from Fulton (op. tit. 

 pp. 438-40): 



"It has been frequently and vigorously contended that the birds "home" as it is termed by 

 instinct pure and simple; also, that instinct has nothing to do with their power of homing at all, 

 but that the sight alone enables them to reach their lofts. Various other theories have been started, 

 as that they will only fly to the north; but the true theory doubtless is that it is partly instinct and, 

 partly sight, intelligence, and memory. I say partly instinct advisedly, though probably many on 

 reading thus far only would be ready to combat the idea. The mainspring of the resolute action 

 of the homing bird in endeavoring to reach its home is, no doubt, the natural love of home, which 

 is shared in by all the homing pigeons, and this I term instinct. As far as one can tell by careful 

 observation, every homing bird, when thrown, endeavors to find its home at first. It stretches its 

 neck as it flies round or even if it pitches on some neighboring roof in its apparent endeavor to 

 ascertain which direction it ought to make for. This, which is developed in every bird, surely may 

 properly be called instinct. 



"It is the same with dogs, cats, horses, cattle. It is, in fact on record that a race was once carried 

 out with cats, which were taken away from their homes and let loose; with dogs it is an everyday 

 occurrence. And it is well known that cattle, when escaped from a field at a distance from home 

 will often beat about, until at last they walk into the homestead. But though this instinct may cause 

 all the birds thrown at one time and place to endeavor to reach their respective homes, it does not 

 enable them all to attain success. When they have started and done their best to find out which 

 way to go instinct seems to have run its course. 



