2i6 Mr. Frank Finn,


V. Sociable species will feed birds of the same sex, if without

mates.


The custom of caressing, usually head-tickling, offers these

peculiarities


I. Both sexes do it, but the male most as a rule.


II. It runs through groups to a great extent ; e.g. Parrots and

Pigeons, and the Mannikin and Waxbill groups of

Ploceine Finches, are all great head-ticklers ; but it

may crop up in more or less isolated cases, thus, among

the ducks, the Mandarin and Carolina, the Tree-ducks

{Dendt ocycna), and the Or inoco Goose (Cheiialopex ju-

batus), seem to be the only practisers of the habit. The

majority of birds do not caress their mates at all.


III. Caressing species will fondle their own sex, if without

mates, and will also caress even non-caressing species.


I now pass to some considerations about the bird mind,

as we know it; the following conclusions have suggested them¬

selves to me :—


I. Birds, like ourselves, are guided by sight only, and see

much as we do ; i.e. they are not colour-blind. The

mistakes they make prove this ; hen-feathered cocks

were objected to by ‘‘ cockers, - ’ because their rivals in

the pit mistook them for hens; and any harmless bird

at all resembling a hawk is much feared at first. Birds

often hate species which display similar colours, e.g, I

have seen the Blue Wren (Malums cycineus) violently

persecute the Red-legged Sugar-bird (Ccereba cya?iea).

They must also be able to observe detail, for otherwise

they would not know their own mates ; all our observa¬

tion of them shows they do know these where we can see

the differences.


II. On the other hand, they have no “refinement”; those

species which collect objects show a blind love for any¬

thing bright and strange only, and they nest in the

ugliest situations as well as the most beautiful.


III. They generally hear as we do ; witness the often perfect

imitation of the human voice by many birds.


But here again, they have no “refinement,” the best singers



IV.



