1877.] | Glimpses of Mind in Birds. 279 
ber, and that the influences exerted by endless external conditions 
have been in part the origin of the so-called species of ‘to-day ? 
But possibly speculation as to the origin of the specific variation 
in bird life is in vain ; and coming back to the present, to see it 
as it is, we find far more that suggests laborious study than a 
life-time can accomplish; and that, too, without seeking for 
marked exhibitions of ingenuity on the part of the birds. Inter- 
esting as these are to the field naturalist, whenever met with, it 
is doubtful if such chance occurrences are really as instructive in 
one’s endeavor to appreciate the mental endowments of birds as 
are their ordinary daily and seasonal acts. 
And again, as indicative, I think, of the existence of a mind es- 
sentially the same as our own, is that love of company of their 
own kind, which is so marked a feature of bird life. Birds may 
be associated and influenced pleasantly by each other’s presence 
without being “ flocked,” as we say of gregarious species. After 
nearly a score of years of out-door study in the woods and about 
the fields, through the marshes and over mountains, I am well 
satisfied that the bird is eminently a social creature. One need 
but watch the busy warblers as they wander from twig to twig of 
our elm-trees to note how humanly they act when two chance to 
meet face to face while passing around the large branches: a 
moment’s halting, a cheery twitter, a still more emphatic adieu, 
perhaps their parting note, and they separate to continue their 
untiring search for insects. 
Capture, if you have the heart to do so, a nest-building bird, 
and place it in a cage, near the site of its unfinished home. See 
with what painful curiosity its puzzled mate endeavors to com- 
.Prehend the mishap, and fearless of the cage itself, with what 
close serutiny it is examined, in hopes of finding some available 
crevice through which the captured bird may escape. Note with 
what care an abundance of food is brought to the prisoner, show- 
ing that the bird realizes some of the difficulties into which its 
mate has fallen. The utterances of both, too, are at this time 
worthy of the closest attention. They are not simply the sharp 
chirp of fear on the part of the captured bird, but a varied into- 
nation, characteristically responded to by the bird at large; and 
one cannot fail to interpret it as an appeal for assistance. I have 
experimented in this cruel manner many times ; and while the 
Caged victim was confined, its mate proved faithful, and the char- 
acter of every act under these peculiar circumstances, in connec- 
tion with their utterances, confirmed my belief that their vocal 
