INDIVIDUALITY. 285 



domestic poultry. Thus while some cocks and hens are 

 plodders, others are idlers, loungers or loafers ; whereas 

 some are peace-loving, tolerant, or submissive, others are 

 bullies, tyrannical, pugnacious, quarrelsome, insolent, chas- 

 tising and otherwise oppressing the weak, defenceless, or 

 submissive ; while some are restless, others are contented 

 and domestic; whereas some are careless of their eggs or 

 young, others show them excessive devotion ; while in some 

 there is keen intelligence in attending to their own interests, 

 in others there is a kind or degree of stupidity that leads, 

 among other results, to self- starvation ; whereas some are 

 timid, others show great courage in maternity, desperation, 

 or even under ordinary circumstances. Combe also refers to 

 the differences of disposition among poultry brought up in 

 the same farm-yard ; for instance, the carefulness on the one 

 hand, and the carelessness on the other, of the mother for 

 her young. 



Parrots and other pet birds, including the blackbird, 

 canary, and linnet, have amiable dispositions or the reverse, 

 peculiarities of temper or habit, special accomplishments or 

 capabilities, whether of a good or bad kind, as their custo- 

 diers soon learn, to their cost or their delight, as the case 

 may be. Every cage bird has its peculiarities of character, 

 which deserve careful study by its custodier, says Miss Buist ; 

 and Eengger points out the sometimes striking diversity of 

 mental character in different members of the same species 

 of songbird. A certain green linnet that is kept in a 

 library, ' being apparently of opinion that the volumes by 

 which he is surrounded are his own property, always mani- 

 fests signs of anger when any of them are displaced, on 

 one occasion literally flying in my face for touching one.' 

 It also shows ( a nice discrimination as to any change ' in 

 the dress of his mistress, or even of her ornaments (' Animal 

 World ') . Wood, who had thirty canaries, knew all of them 

 by sight, and was so familiar, moreover, with their indi- 

 vidual characters that he ' could anticipate how each bird 

 would act under certain circumstances.' 



Lubbock observed the differences as to intelligence in lees 

 of the same hive, and Wallace, too, has pointed out the iin- 



