4 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



he would be a bold zoologist who would claim that 

 comparative anatomy is a more important study 

 than that of the manifold activities of mankind. 

 If one admits that the study of habit is to be taken 

 seriously— and of late there has been a decided 

 trend in that direction — bird-watching needs no 

 apology, for the habits of birds are of manifold 

 variety, and not by any means fully understood, 

 even in the case of the commonest and most familiar 

 species. In fact, these are sometimes, perhaps, less 

 well understood than the comparatively inaccessible 

 ones ; it has often struck me, in view of the excellent 

 observations that have been made of late years in 

 the Antarctic by various expeditions, that we know 

 more about the mind and life of the Adelie Penguin, 

 one of the remotest birds on the globe, than we do 

 about those of the Peacock, the best known by sight 

 and reputation of all birds for a couple of thousand 

 years. 



And here one must bear in mind that an observer 

 should be no respecter of persons ornithologically ; a 

 bird is not necessarily more worth observing because 

 it is difficult of access, and that naturalist was very 

 unscientific who said about the Sparrow, " I have 

 got into the habit of not noticing this bird." Per- 

 sonally I am always seeing something fresh in the 

 humble Sparrow's performances, and though my 

 taste as a fancier lies in the direction of birds of 

 beauty, I must admit that the humbler speciei 

 are often more interesting. But they are not 

 necessarily so ; dowdiness is no more a sign of 



