Locomotion in Young Birds. 75 



of the -wings in the nest, which serves to afford pre- 

 liminary experience in co-ordination ; but the co-ordinations 

 of actual flight, with its more or less definite and guided 

 progress, must be regarded as far more delicate and 

 intricate than those for stationary wing-exercise on the 

 brink of the nest. No doubt, under normal circumstances, 

 the parent birds accompany and encourage the young in 

 their flight. No doubt imitation plays some part in flight- 

 development, though probably rather in affording a 

 stimulus to start on the wing, than as giving any 

 assistance in the details of wing-usage. Still, such 

 observations as those which have been given show an 

 amount of congenital definiteness which cannot be over- 

 looked. It forms the foundation of an activity which is 

 perfected by practice and experience. For we may here 

 apply what Miss Hayward says in another connection in 

 " Bird Notes." * " Birds inherit a great deal, but not 

 everything; and perhaps, as with ourselves, what they 

 inherit has to be cultivated." 



It may, perhaps, be said that the young birds, before 

 they fly themselves, have ample opportunities of watching 

 the flight of their parents and other old birds. This is true 

 enough. But who ever learnt to do a difficult thing, even 

 passably well, by merely watching it done superbly by 

 another ? Let any one who has never played billiards or 

 lawn-tennis watch for a week the most skilled exponents 

 of the art, and catch with the eye, if he can, all the delicate 

 adjustments which mark the play of the master. Then let 

 him take cue or racquet in hand, and see what he makes 

 of the game without previous individual practice. He is 

 helpless. The movements which looked so easy, the 

 delicate turns which seemed so natural, will not come to 

 the beginner, no matter how long he has watched their 



* P. 80. 



