4 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



it piecemeal ; the other resumed probing immediately. A Dun- 

 lin pulled a fairly large worm out of its burrow so far and 

 apparently was unable to move it farther. The Dunlin dis- 

 played its excitement by tugging energetically, and by stamping 

 on the mud with its feet. Another ran up at once and displaced 

 it, not by direct attack but by introducing its bill into the burrow 

 and seizing hold of the worm. The former let go and retreated 

 a few paces. It soon returned and seized the free end of the 

 worm. Together they dragged the worm out of its burrow, and 

 in the act of being swallowed the worm broke, and each bird 

 got a portion. 



We may impute human motives to these attractive birds, but 

 a little consideration will show the propriety of trying to find an 

 explanation in closer agreement with what is known of their 

 character. In the general case, the sight of a Dunlin capturing 

 a small animal of unusual value was sufficient to distract the 

 attention of other Dunlins from their own occupations, and to 

 revive a train of memories in their minds, of which the automatic 

 and outward expression was a general movement to the area to 

 see and probe for themselves. This I have called " curiosity " 

 for want of a better word, but it is not exactly so, for the Dunlins 

 would know perfectly what was likely to be found. In the two 

 special instances matters went farther, and while the primary 

 intention may have been robbery, the subsequent actions 

 seemed to be something more pardonable. If, in the general 

 case, the first Dunlin had not been so prompt in swallowing the 

 worm, plainly the new-comers would have attempted to secure it, 

 and if in each of the special instances the second Dunlin went 

 forward with the same idea in its mind as I imagine to occur in 

 the general case, we may suppose that the continued presence of 

 a struggling worm would fill its mind with the one idea of 

 securing the worm, so that other ideas would be crowded out or 

 placed in abeyance. This does not deny them a lively sense of 

 meum and tuum. I have never known Dunlins to interfere with 

 another species which was struggling with a resisting worm, but 

 the respect which they entertain for other species would have 

 full play from the first, and would prevent their minds from be- 

 coming saturated with the idea of securing the worm. Once the 

 single idea has been allowed to develop (and its development 



