Pai^ental and Early Instincts. 1 1 3 
«adverse circumstances of its wild ancestors. As 
much can be said of the creolla fowl of the pampas ; 
and some observations of mine on the habits of this 
variety will perhaps serve to throw light on a vexed 
question of ISTatural History — namely, the cackling 
of the hen after laying, an instinct which has been 
described as useless ” and disadvantageous.” 
In fowls that live unconfined, and which are allowed 
to lay where they like, the instinct, as we know it, 
is certainly detrimental, since egg-eating dogs and 
pigs soon learn the cause of the outcry, and acquire 
a habit of rushing off to find the egg when they hear 
it. The question then arises ; Does the wild jungle 
fowl possess the same pernicious instinct ? 
The creolla is no doubt the descendant of the 
fowl originally introduced about three centuries ago 
by the first colonists in La Plata, and has probably 
not only been uncrossed with any other improved 
variety, such as are now fast taking its place, and 
has lived a much freer life than is usual with the 
fowl in Europe. It is a rather small, lean, extremely 
active bird, lays about a dozen eggs, and hatches 
them all, and is of a yellowish red colour — a hue 
which is common, I believe, in the old barn-door 
fowl of England. The creolla fowl is strong on the 
wing, and much more carnivorous and rapacious in 
habits than other breeds ; mice, frogs, and small 
snakes are eagerly hunted and devoured by it. At 
my home on the pampas a number of these fowls 
were kept, and were allowed to range freely about 
the plantation, which was large, and the adjacent 
grounds, where there were thickets of giant cardoon 
thistle, red-weed, thorn apple, &c. They always 
I 
