124



Mr. C. William Bekbe,



the late John Wolley. I cannot here enter into the story of his

attempts, of the doubt with which he received and examined

the first clutch, or finally of the successful termination of his

search. The story is however quoted in full, I think, from the

Ibis, in Yarrell’s British Birds, and is well worth reading,

breathing as it does the spirit of that ardent and indefatigable

collector.


The eggs, when found, proved to be very much like those

of the Golden-Eye, and are laid in holes in trees or in boxes

placed by the Lapps for that purpose.


After about six months I lost my bird from causes which

might easily have been avoided : two pairs of small Gulls which

had been put into his aviary depriving him of much of his

fish. Returning at the beginning of October, after an absence

of several weeks, I soon saw that something was amiss, although

I had still hopes of saving his life. The moult, however, was

far advanced, and he had not sufficient strength to pull round.

Still let it not be said that he has lived and died in vain, for he

has added to our knowledge of his kind, and given me great

reason to hope that it may be possible to keep some of these

most interesting of birds well and happy although confined.



SOME NOTES ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF


BIRDS.


By C. William Beebe,


Curator of Birds at the New York Zoological Park.


[Reprinted from the Seventh Annual Report of the New York Zoological'

Society, t>3' the kind permission of the Author].


Even a superficial study of the psychology of birds com¬

pels us to attribute to them a highly developed intellectual and

emotional life. A few examples maj^ make this more patent, and

I will mention only those which entail rather complex psychic

processes. Birds have remarkable memories. It is said a pigeon

will remember a person after many months, and a Bullfinch has

been known to recognize a voice after a }^ear’s time. Birds often

dream, and frequently sing or chatter in their sleep. There are

few species of birds which do not show the emotions of love



