130 BEHAVIOR OF PIGEONS. 



after him; they stopped on my house, where they saw my male frill-back. They took three 

 flights away, the second time about 2 blocks away, and the third time they escaped from 

 sight, but returned after about 30 minutes. It was then 4 p. m. They searched about to 

 find their nest, but in vain. The female sat down on the roof of the pens, and I caught 

 her without difficulty and placed her in a cage on the ground. The male came to her, was 

 caught, and both were replaced in the cot; the female at once took the nest. I left the cot 

 open, and the next morning the male came out about 7 o'clock and after a few minutes 

 went in. He did this three times in the course of a half hour, and then seemed to be content, 

 remaining inside on the nest ; meanwhile the female walked about, or sat still on the perch 

 in the cot, not once coming out, although she once came to the door and looked out. At 

 10 h 30 m a. m., both were inside the cot, and apparently contented. 



Evidently this pair (kept at our former home, during the winter of 1901) did not 

 discover then- old winter home, and were not so keenly oriented as the older birds. Still, 

 had the female been unimpeded by the egg she carried, the birds might have discovered 

 the old home. The return to my present home was insured by their having walked about 

 and seen the premises before they first flew away, and probably by their seeing my frill- 

 back. One return made the next more probable. The birds have not yet learned to find 

 their cot; but will probably do so in the course of to-day, the third day after their first 

 egg was laid. 



(3) A third pair, which consisted of two frill-backs, hatched in the spring of 1901, had 

 been kept in pens from the time they could fly, in Chicago and in Woods Hole. I placed 

 them in a cot in the barn at my later Chicago home on Jan. 14, 1902. Two days later, at 

 about 1 p.m., I opened the door of the cot. The birds soon came out, but did not act as 

 shy or as keenly sensitive to strangeness of the place as did the homers. They were awkward 

 in flight, somewhat like young birds that have just begun to fly. The important point is 

 that they appeared to have no memory of a home elsewhere, and they made no sign of a 

 desire to find a lost home, not making a single attempt to fly away or to circle about in search. 

 After being out for a couple of hours they did try to find a cot, and the male succeeded, after 

 looking for some time on the wrong side of the barn, by seeing another frill-back with a cot 

 next to his fly to his stand. He merely followed, but was driven off by the other frill-back, 

 and so did not really discover the way to his cot, although he recognized it after landing 

 on the stand.. After being driven off, he went back to his mate on the south side of the 

 barn. Both birds soon flew to the stands on the south side of the barn, and I caught the 

 female and returned her to her cot (about 3 h 30 m p.m.), where she remained without ven- 

 turing out again for the day. The male, in his search for her, soon flew to his own stand, 

 after trying several others, and once there, he saw his mate through the window, and then 

 soon found his way through the hole into his cot. He then began cooing and strutting 

 and appeared fully satisfied and even delighted with his home. Since the first day they have 

 held possession. 



Here we see an absence of any memory of home. The birds know no home but a pen. 

 Coming near a pen, they seemed to regard it as a place they know, but they did not try 

 to reach it. This species is a fully domesticated one, and probably they would never have 

 a liking for a particular home equal to that of homers. 



(4) A pair of red-chequered homers, bought in the spring of 1901, were kept confined 

 in a pen at our former home, until I took them to Woods Hole, at the end of June. They 

 were returned to Chicago to our new home in October 1901. They were kept in a pen in 

 the basement until Jan. 8, 1902, when I placed them in a cot, in the barn, on the "south 

 side." On Jan. 14 the female laid the first egg; the second was laid 2 days later. Two days 

 still later, at 3 p.m., I opened the cot; the female was sitting, and the male was off the nest. 

 He soon took the nest without coming out. She came out to the stand at 3 h 30 m , paused a 

 minute or two, looking, and stretching once, and then went in without flying. She came 

 out on the stand again at 3 h 35 m , went in again without flying, after looking for a moment, 



