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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIII 



comes so heavily stocked witli the bran constituent that it 

 will not longer work automatically, sometimes becoming 

 so heavy that even the most vigorous pecks of the cock- 

 erel no longer serve to raise it and admit more food. 



The movements of the cockerel in working the feeder 

 are, as a whole, characterized by directness and accuracy. 

 Occasionally, however, there is a slight hesitation in 

 striking the beam. In such a case the bird leaves the 

 tray and turns toward the beam, but returns to the tray 

 before having struck, as if influenced by the thought that 

 grain had already entered the tray or that the other birds 

 would secure it first. This hesitation is usually followed, 

 however, by the complete successful performance. The 

 accuracy of the strike is noteworthy, and a deep groove 

 has been worn on the edge of the beam at the point where 

 the beak strikes. 



The cockerel mentioned above is a line specimen of the 

 buff rock variety. It was hatched at the Ehode Island 

 College Poultry Plant in February, 1908, and now meas- 

 ures twenty-three inches in height. The bird has been 

 confined in the colony house (with appended yard) for 

 about four months, and the type of behavior described 

 had been observed about two months before it came to 

 the notice of the writer. It thus seems probable that the 

 bird had been in the house with the feeder accessible for 

 about two months before the trick was learned. At the 

 time of writing ( April5, 1909) the cockerel still has access 

 to the automatic feeder and works it regularly every day. 



Since making the observations recorded in the pre- 

 ceding paragraphs the writer has secured other data 

 which show that the ability to work the automatic feeders 

 is not restricted to the previously mentioned buff rock 

 cockerel alone, but is also possessed by several of the 

 hens located in the same colony house, and by another 

 white Orpington cockerel in an adjoining poultry house. 

 While the behavior of the white Orpington cockerel is 

 in most respects similar to that of the buff rock, the action 

 of the buff rock hens is somewhat different. When the 



