GATHERED BY THE WAY 
species of bird will occasionally learn the song of 
another species, but the song impulse must be there 
to begin with, and this must be stimulated in the 
right way at the right time. A caged English spar- 
row has been known to learn the song of the canary 
caged with or near it, but the sparrow certainly 
inherits the song impulse. One has proof of this 
when he hears a company of these sparrows sitting 
in a tree in spring chattering and chirping in unison, 
and almost reaching an utterance that is song-like. 
Our cedar-bird does not seem to have the song im- 
pulse, and'I doubt if it could ever be taught to sing. 
Tn like manner our ruffed grouse has but feeble vocal 
powers, and I do not suppose it would learn to crow 
or cackle if brought up in the barn-yard. It expresses 
its joy at the return of spring and the mating season 
in its drum, as do the woodpeckers. 
The recent English writer Richard Kearton says 
there is “no such dead level of unreasoning instinct” 
in the animal world as is popularly supposed, and 
he seems to base the remark upon the fact that he 
found certain of the cavities or holes in a hay-rick 
where sparrows roosted lined with feathers, while 
others were not lined. Such departures from a level 
line of habit as this are common enough among all 
creatures. Instinct is not something as rigid as cast 
iron; it does not invariably act like a machine, 
always the same. The animal is something alive, 
and is subject to the law of variation. Instinct may 
Q57 
