C. F. AMERY, 161 
THE HOMING FACULTY IN BIRDS AND OTHER 
ANIMALS. 
BY C. F. AMERY. 
Since the progress of comparative physiology has taught 
us that the lower animals are endowed with a like nervous 
organization with ourselves, that they are in fact fellow- 
creatures on lower planes of development; and since more 
careful observation confirms the natural inference that they 
are animated with kindred desires and emotions, and in 
varying degrees with like instincts, intuitions, and capacity 
of profiting by observation and experience, it is no longer 
the fashion to regard them as mere living automata. There 
are, nevertheless, some achievements of the lower animals 
which are not easily explained by the assumption of mental 
faculties akin to our own, and chief, perhaps, among these is 
the homing faculty common to so many animals, and so 
admirably exemplified in the carrier-pigeon which returns 
from long distances to its home under conditions which 
would render the feat impossible for man unless he made a 
close study of the mariner’s compass over the whole route. 
Now ascribing to the carrier-pigeon and other similarly 
endowed creatures the faculties of instinct, intuition, and 
intelligence, and recognizing that all these aid them in ad- 
justing themselves to the conditions of their environment, 
the question arises, To which of these faculties is the 
capacity due? I conceive that it is a purely intelligent act 
calling for observation, reflection, and calculation ; but to 
render this conclusion acceptable, it will first be necessary 
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