152 BEHAVIOR OF PIGEONS. 



empty box and quietly sat down as if all was right. At 9 h 39 m I took him from the box 

 and placed him on the nest-box. He felt the young and finally covered them, but not 

 without looking up once, as if in doubt whether he should not return to the old place. 

 He settled down, however, and remained. I left the nest-box on the floor overnight, the 

 female remaining contentedly. The next morning, at his usual time to take the nest, 

 the male went to the nest-box while it was still on the floor. He has now become habituated 

 to finding his nest on the floor of the coop. 



(2) The above experiment was partially repeated with a pair consisting of a white- 

 ring male and a blond-ring female. I took the nest-box from the containing-box and 

 placed it on the floor of the coop. The nest contained one young about 1 days old. 

 The female soon left the nest and flew back to the empty box, which, in this case, was 

 about 2 feet above the floor. She saw that the young and nest were not there, and imme- 

 diately returned to the floor and went on the nest. Although she was not satisfied with 

 the nest on the floor, she recognized it and did not blindly desert it to sit in the habitual 

 place. Here intelligence, instinct, and habit all come into play. There is the instinct to sit 

 on the nest and young, the habit of place, and the intelligence which is sufficient to correct habit. 



(3) I have a black tumbler (common pigeon), which I imported from Japan, mated 

 with a blond ring-dove. These doves have eggs on which they have sat about a week. 

 They are kept in a pen outside of the house. The nest-box is about 10 inches square 

 and 2 inches deep. Wanting to bring the birds into the house to protect them from the 

 cold, and knowing that the female would perhaps desert the nest, I took the precaution 

 to change the egg to a smaller box (one about 8 by 5 inches) which would go into the door 

 of a small wire cage. It was about 4 p.m. when I put the egg in the new box and the new 

 box into the old one. Its surroundings were therefore the same as before, but the box 

 was narrower and deeper (about 4 inches deep). The female, although she noticed the 

 egg and got into the nest, refused to cover it and soon came out, apparently feeling non- 

 plussed. I then returned the egg to the old nest-box, taking away the new one, and she 

 at once went on the nest and covered the egg. After 10 minutes or so I again repeated 

 the experiment with the new box and with like result. Again giving her the old nest- 

 box and egg, she was contented and sat. After 15 minutes I again changed her to the 

 new box. She did not like the new place, jumped several times to the edge of the box, 

 but returned, and examined the nest as if strongly doubting that it was her own. After 

 some time in sitting, turning around, and getting up, she at length decided to occupy the 

 box. Had I brought it into the house or removed it from its place she would have deserted 

 it. At 10 o'clock that night I brought her and her mate inside, keeping them in the dark 

 all night. 



The next morning the female came off the nest and remained off, and the male did not 

 take his place. At 10 a. m. I placed the new nest out of doors in the old pen and she went 

 on with hesitation and perplexity, after looking and examining to see if it was really her 

 nest. There is evident, in this female, a mental activity of a very low order. She recog- 

 nizes the difference between her nest and the one offered her, and, although she wants 

 to sit, she declines to do so except on her own nest, and she is only brought to it by sitting 

 overnight on the new nest when she has no sight to disturb her confidence. She remem- 

 bers her old nest in the morning after it was removed, as she still behaves as if puzzled 

 to know what to do, and as if wanting to find what she had known as her nest. 



On the following night, after dark, the female was found off the nest and the male 

 was on; I then returned the old nest-box again, and strange to say, the female felt it at once 

 to be her nest and took her place over the egg! Several times I tried to get her to cover the 

 egg in the new box, but she could not be induced to do so, and I therefore left her in 

 the old box. As a result of my experiments and the cold weather the female finally deserted 

 the nest. 



