FREE AND CAPTIVE BIRDS 5 



intellect in a bird than in a human being, and 

 Aristotle was quite right in stigmatizing some birds 

 as " dull in colour and leading a dull life," while 

 some of those which are stigmatized as " garish " 

 possess habits and qualities of surpassing interest, 

 the Peacock in particular. I particularly mention 

 the Peacock, because it is a purely Indian bird, but 

 widely diffused about the world in a domestic 

 state ; but its domestication is not rigorous, so to 

 speak, and it is allowed to lead pr^ictically a natural 

 life. This needs to be noticed, because there is a 

 regrettable tendency among naturalists to confine 

 their observations to the wild birds native to their 

 own country, to the neglect of introduced, domes- 

 ticated, and captive species. 



A free bird is, of course, other things equal, the 

 best and most instructive subject for observation, 

 and many habits can only be observed on birds in a 

 state of liberty, and in their own country at that ; 

 but nevertheless, many very interesting hints may be 

 gleaned from the study of birds not so situated, 

 and these may always be checked by the study of 

 their recorded habits in a natural state. Where 

 such records do not exist, the study of captive birds 

 is a useful stimulus to field observers to take up the 

 matter, and often an observation on a tame or 

 captive bird brings out a point which the field 

 observer almost necessarily overlooks, owing, in 

 many cases, to want of opportunity to discriminate 

 between individuals — a point which will become 

 evident later on. 



