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Two Interesting Observations 



The results of two observations which 

 I have had the opportunity to make 

 recently of incidents connected with the 

 lives of some Robins and Blue Jays have 

 interested me so intensely that I think 

 they might also appeal to some of the 

 readers of Bird-Lore. 



The first of these observations resulted 

 in a discovery, new to me at least, regard- 

 ing the psychology of the breeding birds. 

 During the summer a pair of Robins 

 built their nest upon the ledge of my 

 window, close up against the pane. 

 Almost from the beginning they mani- 

 fested not the slightest concern about my 

 presence. Either they recognized the fact 

 that I was friendly, or else the fact that 

 the glass was a sufficient protection. Thus 

 I sat within touching distance of the 

 mother bird, except for the glass, and 

 watched the familiar operation of nest- 

 building. 



Three eggs were laid on successive days, 

 followed by a two-day interval, and then 

 a fourth egg. Soon the first three hatched, 

 and, at the proper interval, the fourth. 

 The closest possible inspection (this point 

 is important) of the fourth bir 1 shov/ed 

 him to be just as ugly, as strong, as large, 

 in fact, as perfect a bird as any of the 

 others at their hatching. Only having 

 arrived a little late, he was to that degree 

 smaller than they had meanwhile become. 

 Potentially he had as good a prospect of 

 becoming a perfect Robin as any in the 

 nest. 



I now eagerly watched for the answer 

 to a question which I had long been ask- 

 ing: "How do the parent birds know 

 whose turn it is to get the worm?" The 

 answer (with this pair) was soon given. 

 They did not know. On each return of 

 either parent to the nest (the father 

 brought few worms and boasted much of 

 what he did) all the babies stretched their 

 necks and opened eager mouths. The most 



convenient mouth got the worm. Some- 

 times one got it time after time in succes- 

 sion; then another would be lucky for 

 awhile. 



Now comes the pathetic but interest- 

 ing part of the story, the part which 

 casts doubt upon the intelligence of at 

 least one pair of birds. Remember that 

 birdling number four was a perfect baby, 

 only smaller than the others to the extent 

 directly due to his later arrival. As the 

 heads reached for the worms, his, therefore, 

 was more often not the nearest nor 

 highest. The result, since the parents made 

 absolutely no eiTort to secure fair division, 

 was that he received less than his share. 

 This resulted in his falling still farther 

 behind and in turn securing still less. 



Now had even the slightest effort been 

 made to give him a little extra attention, 

 he would have been as fine a bird as any 

 of the four, but as it was he fell farther 

 and farther behind the others through 

 sheer starvation. Finally he became so 

 weakened that his stronger brothers 

 kicked him out of the nest onto the ledge. 

 There he was utterly ignored and died. 

 I could not try to help him because the 

 opening of the window would have des- 

 troyed the nest. 



Now why did not the parents make the 

 slight readjustment of plans necessary 

 to produce four instead of three children, 

 since all would have been perfect? Does 

 it indicate the blindness of instinct? 

 Was this a special case of inefficiency in a 

 pair of 'newly-weds' who would later be 

 wiser? Does it indicate a lack of any real 

 intelligence? The answer is interesting 

 conjecture. 



My other observation was so surprising 

 to me that I wonder if it is unique. A 

 pair of Robins recently built in a maple 

 tree near the house. As usual, after com- 

 pleting the nest they left it for a few days 

 unoccupied. During the time of vacancy 

 a pair of Jays appeared to be interested in 



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