142 ON THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 
liarity practise it, however well they may be fed, 
when brought up from the nest in a state of domes- 
tication. 
In addition to the numerous proofs of the intel- 
ligence of birds already given, I may mention their 
susceptibility of receiving instruction by education. 
Thus Eagles, Falcons, and Hawks have been trained 
to limit the effects of their instinctive propensity to 
kill to a particular species of game, and to return to 
the call and lure of the Falconer after having struck 
down the quarry. The Cormorant, too, was formerly 
employed with success in taking fish. Here, then, 
not only great attachment to their keepers and much 
docility of disposition are evinced by birds which are 
naturally wild and voracious, but a considerable share 
of memory is displayed, and a surprising degree of 
control exercised over some of their most active 
instincts. 
Several birds of the Finch, Grosbeak, and Warbler 
genera acquire the art of piping long and difficult 
tunes with facility and precision; and it is well 
known that some of the Parrots, and also the Jay, 
Starlmg, Jackdaw, and Magpie, readily learn to pro- 
nounce single words, and even short sentences, with 
tolerable exactness. Yet, although I have had excellent 
opportunities of observing the last species, and have 
been almost in the daily practice of investigating its 
habits, I never knew it display any unusual exertion 
of its capacity for imitation in a state of nature, 
