126 



Wild Birds. 



It is easy to conceive a state in which all animals would be tame, but it would not 

 be the state of nature known to us which has developed under the laws of battle, the 

 survival of the strongest, the wariest, the best protected or concealed, or the most intelli- 

 gent. The higher animals either prey on one another or on the helpless invertebrates, or 

 are preyed upon, and with most, tameness would soon lead to extinction. Wildness or 

 wariness is not only the law of their nature, but the very condition of their existence. 



The animal which fails to 

 profit by experience, or 

 at least to the extent of 

 learning caution, and thus 

 displaying the rudiments 

 fll J^2 ^ intelligence, must go 

 to the wall, unless the 

 conditions of its life are 

 exceptional or nature 

 grants it some extraordi- 

 nary favor such as protec- 

 tive or deceptivecoloring. 

 While most animals 

 are wild in the state of 

 nature and many are al- 

 most untamable, a com- 

 paratively large number 

 submit to the taming pro- 

 cess, and a few become 

 tame in the natural state. 

 The principle of the sur- 

 vival of the strongest or 

 the fittest as a result of 

 the struggle for existence 

 is so general and so primi- 

 tive that when we find 

 animals already tame in 

 nature, we must regard 

 them as the descendants 

 of wild ancestors. 



As a rule no wild 



beast or bird approaches man without some inducement. Unless some other instinct be 

 aroused, it comes, if at all, to defend or feed its offspring, to appease its hunger, or 

 in very rare cases to find protection from danger. The taming process depends, as 

 we have just seen, upon the ability to form new associations and may be brought 

 about artificially by restraint as when a wild animal is caged and new habits are, as 

 it were, forced upon it, or by means of strong lures. Of the latter, one of the best 

 is food in the presence of hunger, but the strongest of all are the young at a cer- 

 tain stage of growth. In order to tame a wild animal without recourse to restraint 



Fig. 123. Male standing at nest after having fed his young. Notice the character- 

 istic instinctive pose of one of the fledglings. 



