INSTINCT 97 



death which does not occur in the young fledgling now ap- 

 pears on the scene; the young birds will allow themselves to 

 be handled and pulled about without betraying a sign of life, 

 and will even suffer their tail or wing feathers to be pulled 

 out one by one without a wince. After a time, as if the 

 bird recognized the futility of the ruse, the death feint is 

 discontinued with a surprising suddenness to be followed 

 by violent struggles, screams and pecking at its captor in 

 its effort to make its escape. Later when the birds are able 

 to fly the crouching and death feigning instincts disappear. 



With birds which are hatched in a helpless and almost feath- 

 erless condition most of the instincts of the species, with the 

 exception of opening the mouth for food upon the appearance 

 of a large moving object in their vicinity, are in abeyance. 

 In such forms running, pecking, flight, etc., are none the 

 less instinctive; they are simply kept from appearing on 

 account of immaturity. The young of the mound-building 

 bird will take wing when first hatched from the egg, but young 

 swallows are not able to fly until after some weeks. That 

 previous experience is not necessary to enable them to ac- 

 complish this feat is shown by the fact that young nestlings 

 kept where they had no opportunity to use their wings 

 until they were of the proper age for flight, were able 

 to fly at their first attempt with perfect ease. That young 

 birds are taught to fly by their parents is a popular myth. 

 The instinct to fly is there in every case; its appearance is 

 merely deferred, like the mating and nest building instincts, 

 until the bird reaches a certain degree of development. 

 Similarly with the running and swimming of mammals. 

 A young puppy placed in the water will flounder helplessly 

 and soon drown, but if an older dog is thrown into the water, 

 though he may never have been in the water before, he will 

 swim toward the shore. 



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