10 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



assume anything ; if a bird is displaying, it is not 

 necessarily a male, for instance. Quite apart from 

 the fact that in many species the hen is the dominant 

 sex, as in Phalaropes and Cassowaries, the hen may 

 display even in those in which the male is well 

 differentiated and yery self-assertive ; thus, I have 

 seen a Peahen display to a Peacock, and a hen 

 Turkey to the gobbler, these males in bioth cases 

 remaining passive, so that had the sexes been alike, 

 one would certainly have been tempted to draw 

 very false conclusions about their behaviour. 



Then one must be very cautious in keeping free 

 from prepossessions ; it is quite easy to see what 

 is not there, if one has some image already in 

 one's mind. We laugh at the error of the old 

 naturalists who credited the Osprey, as a fishing- 

 bird-of-prey, with one taloned foot and one webbed 

 one ; these odd extremities no doubt seemed to 

 them appropriate, but I have seen almost equally 

 gross instances of faulty observation of points of 

 form and colour in the work of modern naturalists 

 of the best repute. 



Such errors can, of course, easily be checked, but 

 when it comes to actions, unless the camera is at hand 

 for the recording of such (which can be but rarely 

 the case), the evidence is necessarily dependent on 

 a number of witnesses. Every one is liable to err, 

 and any observer is liable to have the opportunity 

 of observing an action or occurrence which is rare 

 or strange, and will be disbelieved until some one 

 else arises to confirm it. 



