Parental and Early Instincts. 113 



adverse circumstances of its wild ancestors. As 

 much can be said of the creolla fowl of the pampas ; 

 and some observations of mine on the habits of this 

 variety will perhaps serve to throw light on a vexed 

 question of Natural History — namely, the cackling 

 of the hen after laying, an instinct which has been 

 described as " useless " and " disadvantageous." 

 In fowls that live unconfined, and which are allowed 

 to lay where they like, the instinct, as we know it, 

 is certainly detrimental, since egg-eating dogs and 

 pigs soon learn the cause of the outcry, and acquire 

 a habit of rushing off to find the egg when they hear 

 it. The question then arises : Does the wild jungle 

 fowl possess the same pernicious instinct ? 



The creolla is no doubt the descendant of the 

 fowl originally introduced about three centuries ago 

 by the first colonists in La Plata, and has probably 

 not only been uncrossed with any other improved 

 variety, such as are now fast taking its place, and 

 has lived a much freer life than is usual with the 

 fowl in Europe. It is a rather small, lean, extremely 

 active bird, lays about a dozen eggs, and hatches 

 them all, and is of a yellowish red colour — a hue 

 which is common, I believe, in the old barn-door 

 fowl of England. The creolla fowl is strong on the 

 wing, and much more carnivorous and rapacious in 

 habits than other breeds ; mice, frogs, and small 

 snakes are eagerly hunted and devoured by it. At 

 my home on the pampas a number of these fowls 

 were kept, and were allowed to range freely about 

 the plantation, which was large, and the adjacent 

 grounds, where there were thickets of giant cardoon 

 thistle, red-weed, thorn apple, &c. They always 



