Imitation. i8r 



own species, but as her own special mate. And if we 

 admit sexual selection — a matter to be more fully discussed 

 in a future chapter — we may perhaps suppose that such 

 modifications of song evoke in different degrees the 

 emotional state that accompanies the act of pairing. 

 For those who believe that the hen birds select those who 

 most strongly stir the sexual emotion, we have here the 

 diverse modifications of song which may thus have differ- 

 ential effects. Such may be the advantages of imitation in 

 the particular field of bird-song. 



But should not the question be made broader and more 

 general ? Should we not ask, What is the organic value of 

 the imitative tendency as evinced in many ways in the life 

 of birds or other creatures ? I cannot but think that in 

 a number of cases it would make all the difference between 

 survival and destruction. Mr. Tegetmeier states * " that if 

 pigeons are reared exclusively with small grain, as wheat 

 or barley, they will starve before eating beans. But when 

 they are thus starving, if a bean-eating pigeon is put 

 among them, they follow its example, and thereafter adopt 

 the habit. So fowls sometimes refuse to eat maize, but on 

 seeing others eat it, they do the same, and become ex- 

 cessively fond of it." Is it not clear that such imitation 

 as Mr. Tegetmeier here describes might be a means of 

 saving those who acted on it from starvation and death ? 

 Young water-fowl that, seeing their parents dive, did the 

 same, would stand a far better chance of survival than 

 those who stayed at the surface. One can well understand 

 how natural selection would foster the imitative tendency, 

 and working on congenital variations might eventually 

 render the imitative behaviour a truly instinctive activity. 



It has certainly in many cases produced a predisposi- 

 tion to imitate the actions of their own kind rather than 



* Quoted in Mr. A. E. Wallace's " Darwinism," p. 75. 



