306 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 974 



our difficulties of interpretation are not at an 

 end. How, upon the same principles, shall we 

 account for the rather startling exceptions 

 which confront us at every turn — the zebra, 

 for instance, " the noblest Roman of them 

 all," so far as this kind of livery is concerned, 

 in. which not only the young, but both sexes, 

 are striped all over. For untold ages, so far 

 as we can judge, zebras have haunted the open, 

 sun-scorched veldt of South and Southeast 

 Africa, where their conspicuous coats, seen 

 from afar, are the boldest advertisement pos- 

 sible to their numerous enemies; yet they 

 managed to thrive, at least until the white 

 man appeared upon the scene with a rifle, and 

 no satisfactory solution of the meaning of 

 their stripes has yet been offered. How then 

 are we to account for an assumed striped an- 

 cestral livery in so many animals, whether 

 young or adult? As Darwin remarked, since 

 in the horse family both sexes are colored alike, 

 there is no evidence of sexual selection here, 

 and if stripes and spots originated as orna- 

 ments, how does it happen that so many ani- 

 mals in their present adult state have lost 

 them? 



The parental care and affection afforded to 

 offspring, so strongly evinced in the mammal 

 and bird, can be followed in all its various 

 degrees of manifestation to invertebrates of 

 very lowly estate. The author has recorded 

 a number of remarkable instances in birds, 

 wherein interpretation is difficult, and perhaps 

 impossible without a much fuller knowledge 

 of behavior in every direction than is now 

 possessed. 



Bats have been seen to capture prey, when 

 loaded with their young, and many birds in 

 times of stress are equally independent, not 

 only transporting their young from place to 

 place, but even transferring their eggs, though, 

 excepting the gray cuckoo, well authenticated 

 cases of egg-transport are extremely rare. The 

 great northern diver or loon is an adept in 

 thus dealing with its young, as is also the 

 lesser grebe or dabchick, mentioned by the 

 author. More remarkable still is the way 

 in which woodcock will sometimes carry their 

 nestlings to and fro, from nest to feeding 



grounds, holding them, as we are told, appa- 

 rently between their legs, and possibly with the 

 further aid of their long bill placed under- 

 neath for support. 



The author raises a more vexed question in 

 his descriptions of the diving and fishing 

 habits of certain birds, and their methods of 

 dealing with their prey, as to whether the 

 young really receive direct and deliberate les- 

 sons from their parents in all these things. 

 If we were to ask the preliminary question, 

 whether animals that are directed so com- 

 pletely by instinct need a teacher of this sort, 

 we should be obliged to answer plainly in the 

 negative. In this respect, so far as we can see, 

 the different species of birds stand very nearly 

 at a level, and in every case instinct, perfected 

 by practise, or corrected by individual experi- 

 ence, and often aided by imitation, seems 

 amply sufficient to guide the majority aright 

 in every important vital activity. " What 

 flight is to the eagle," says the author, " diving 

 is to the nestlings of the auk tribe, grebes, 

 and divers. ... In acquiring the art there 

 can be no doubt but that the young are in- 

 structed by their parents. The adult razor-biU 

 has been seen to take her nestling by the neck 

 and dive with it, many times in succession; 

 and as these excursions seem to be anything 

 but pleasant at first, the young one often dives 

 for a moment to dodge its zealous parent, thus 

 effecting the end to be attained. Young 

 grebes are certainly given lessons in diving, 

 and also in catching flsh" (p. 68). A descrip- 

 tion follows of what the author regards as a 

 diving and fishing lesson given to a young 

 grebe by its parent. Later he says : " Young 

 birds of prey receive instruction first in the 

 art of breaking up their food, and later in its 

 capture," and Macpherson's interesting story 

 of the golden eagle is quoted in. confirmation 

 of these ideas. 



We are quite ready to believe that the re- 

 markable behaviors of the species referred to 

 in the preceding statements have been accu- 

 rately reported, but we doubt if the interpre- 

 tation, though apparently eo obvious and 

 natural, is really correct. Such interpreta- 

 tions do not fit, when we closely study be- 



