Observing-powers of Birds 
those content to live in a fools’ paradise. If 
birds are supremely sharp-sighted, and pay 
attention to excessively minute detail, the diffi- 
culty of accounting for the orzgim of protective 
mimicry on the natural selection hypothesis 
becomes all the greater. 
The question whether or not birds are good 
observers is a most interesting one. Unfor- 
tunately, hitherto, but little attention has been 
paid to the subject. The evidence available 
seems to point to the fact that birds, like savages, 
have sharp eyes only for certain objects—that is 
to say, for the things they are accustomed to 
look out for. All observers of nature must have 
noticed how quick a butcher-bird is to catch sight 
of a tiny insect upon the ground at a distance of 
some yards from his perch. 
On the other hand, it is said that when there 
is snow upon the ground wood pigeons will 
approach quite close to a man wearing white 
clothes and a white hat, provided he keep 
perfectly still, Finn once witnessed in Calcutta a 
sparrow pick up a very young toad, obviously by 
mistake, for it dropped it at once with evident 
distaste. Birds of prey are supposed to have 
remarkably good eyesight; yet they can readily 
be caught by a net stretched out before their 
quarry. They are not trained to be on the 
watch for such things as nets, and so do not 
appear to notice one when erected. 
Q 241 
