Ancestral characters in nestlings.



211



The bird was taken to the taxidermist, Mr. Roberts, of Norwich, but

not the trace of a chicken could we find. Personally, I have only

once known a Long-eared Owl to take a pheasant, though they are

said to be fond of very young leverets; but, considering the outcry

against ground-game by farmers in this country, who will blame

them for this ?


In most counties, or County Council areas, an all-the-year

protection is given to Owls; but it is merely a nominal protection,

which the police are at no pains to enforce. By giving directions

to their keepers, landlords and other game-preservers might do

much in preventing the destruction of these useful birds.



ANCESTRAL CHARACTERS IN NESTLINGS.


By Arthur G. Butler, Ph.D.


That wise old philosopher, King Solomon, was evidently

aware that the child is the father of the man (Prov. xxii, 6);

but, though he was assuredly a bit of a Darwinian in his views

(Eccl. iii, 18-20), he does not seem to have known that this was

physiologically true.


The distinctions between the embryonic forms of some species

which become widely differentiated when adult are very slight;

and, as Prof. Huxley pointed out, it is quite in the later stages

of development that the young human being presents marked

differences from the young ape. Birds are so closely related to

reptiles that, as Frank Finn observes (‘ The World’s Birds,’ Intro¬

duction, p. xi), “ if birds did not possess feathers, it would be

doubtful if they could be separated from the reptilian class ”;

therefore, it would seem as if those birds which are hatched in a

naked condition are more nearly related to the reptiles than those

which are clothed with down ; but this does not necessarily follow,

since the presence or absence of down on the young may be an

adaptation to varied conditions.


When nestling birds differ greatly from their parents in

colouring, I think we may conclude that their plumage represents

fairly closely that of a considerably earlier age in the history of



