II



and therefore take a peculiar pleasure in copying it. It is hardly to he

believed that they ever get a sense of the counotative value of words, but

it is not to be doubted that they sometimes attain to a certain appreciation

of the denotation of simple phrases. In this task the)' do not exhibit as

much sagacity as the dog, a creature which learns to understand the

purport of rather complicated sentences. Nevertheless, their capacity for

imitating speech is a fascinating peculiarity, one which has greatly

endeared them to bird fanciers.


“ Those who have observed the talking birds have doubtless noted

the fact that their capacity for remembering and uttering words varies

greatly. I am inclined to think that in the same species some individuals

can do such tasks several times as easily as others. If those speaking

forms could be brought to breed in captivity, and something like the

selective care were given to their development that has been devoted to

the varieties of pigeons, we might well expect to attain very remarkable

results. If anywhere in the animal world there is a chance to open com¬

munication by means of speech with the lower creatures, it should be

here.


“The ease with which most birds, except those of prey, may be

reduced to domestication is due to the remarkable intensity of their

sympathetic motives. In this regard the class is much more advanced

than that of the mammalia to which we ourselves belong. Accustomed as

they are to ceaseless and active intercourse with each other by means of

their varied calls, largely endowed with the faculty of attention, and provided

with fairly retentive memories, the birds are, on the average, nearer in the

■qualities of their intelligence to man than are many of the species in his

own class. It was long ago remarked that the birds of the remote islands,

such as the Galapagos, which had never seen man, were at first not in the

least afraid of him. It required, however, but a few generations of experience

to show these creatures that the unfeathered biped was a singularly

dangerous animal, and they at once and permanently adopted the habit of

avoiding him. This incident of itself shows how quick birds are to learn

large and important lessons. We see also the reverse of this education in fear

in the rapid way in which birds become tame when they are secured from

persecution. Whenever shooting is stopped over a considerable territory the

birds rapidly become more tolerant of man’s presence. Even among

migratory species the individuals appear to learn that certain places where

they are protected may be resorted to with safety.


“ Because of their freedom of flight it is in all cases difficult to bring

our perching birds into such relations with the domiciles of man that they

can be truly domesticated. The success, however, which has been attained

in the case of the pigeons, which have been so far made captive by the

change of their instincts that they never depart far from their cotes, seems

to indicate that this tendency again to go wild is by no means ineradicable.

In other instances it will probably disappear as it has in this by long-

continued care in breeding. Our successes with the geese, ducks, and swans,

all of which belong to genera characterized by the migratory habit, show

how readily in the course of time the old native instinct may be subordinated

to the will of man. Although the degree of the difficulty which will be

encountered in taming many wild forms may be far greater than that which

has been met in those which we have domesticated, there is no reason what¬

ever to believe that in any case it will be insuperable.



