270 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



times, sometimes only once, and in a much lower tone 

 than in fowls of other breeds. 



If we may assume that these fowls, in their long 

 semi-independent existence in La Plata, have reverted 

 to the original instincts of the wild Galliis baiikiva, ue 

 can see here how advantageous the cackling instinct 

 must be in enabling the hen in dense tropical jungles 

 to rejoin the flock after laying an egg. If there are 

 egg-eating animals in the jungle intelligent enough to 

 discover the meaning of such a short, subdued cackling 

 call, they would still be unable to find the nest by going 

 back on the bird's scent, since she flies from the nest in 

 the first place ; and the wild bird probably flies farther 

 than the creolla hen of La Plata. The clamorous 

 cackling of our fowls would appear, then, to be nothing 

 more than a perversion of a very useful instinct. 



From the fact that these half-wild birds only 

 cackle when they have travelled some distance 

 after laying we see that this seemingly foolish 

 habit of the barndoor fowl may originally have 

 served the same purpose as does the well-known 

 strategy of the partridge or lapwing in luring 

 enemies away from the nest. 



But how has the habit become so altered 

 since the bird has been domesticated ? Prob- 

 ably deliberate selection may have had some- 

 thing to do with it ; for naturally every owner 

 of a hen wants to obtain its eggs without much 



