F. M. CAMPBELL—ON INSTINCT. 
131 
appear that ground-nests* * * § have not so much to do with the develop¬ 
ment of the device as I have made out. These birds are, however, 
exceedingly solicitous as to the safety of their young, “ and will 
almost suffer themselves to be taken off the nest sooner than forsake 
them.”f Although in this case the nest was not on the ground, 
the birds build there frequently, and there is no reason why these 
actions should not have originated in the way I have pointed out, 
exclusive of the position of the nests, or have become settled as a 
habit in the species, previous to their selecting places of the most 
opposite kinds in which to build them. 
The “ feigning of injury ” is, however, not confined to the wings, 
but extends to the legs. My own observations have not gone so 
far as to permit me to state that the bird runs away with a move¬ 
ment of the wings; but I should be disposed to think that the 
cause of falling or “ limping” is due to the balance of the body 
being disturbed by the awkward position of one or both wings, or 
to a stiffness which followed a cramped position. 
It appears to me that it is better to attribute the development of 
these special adjustments to emotions and conditions which we 
know to prevail, so long as they account for the phenomena, rather 
than to fall back on a considerable degree of intelligence to bridge 
over the difficulty. 
The possible Obigln of some Instinctive Actions. 
Many actions of animals may be traced to the observation of an 
accidental result. Morris records J that an erin or sea-eagle, finding 
that the tub of water placed in his cage was frozen, deliberately 
mounted to the uppermost perch, and “then suddenly collecting 
his strength he rushed down with irresistible force, and striking 
the ice with his powerful claws dashed it to atoms,” when he 
“ quietly allayed his thirst.” How, these birds live in a rarefied 
atmosphere, and we may be sure that pools to which in the wild 
state they were accustomed to resort were occasionally frozen when 
they wanted to drink. Let us suppose the ice to have been too 
thin to bear a bird’s weight, and that as the water appeared through 
the broken surface he observed the substance which had hidden 
the water from his view. What would be more natural than that 
on another occasion, angry at the obstacle between him and the 
object sought, he flew at it in the same way as he would at ravens 
or crows which had taken possession of some carrion. Romanes § 
mentions the case of a bear in the Zoological Gardens, which, unable 
to reach a bun which had fallen into the water, stood on the edge 
of the pond, and commenced “stirring the water with his paw, so 
that it established a sort of rotatory current, which eventually 
brought the bun to him.” When one leg grew tired it used the 
other, but in the same direction. How the movement of fore-legs 
* J. E. Littleboy mentions the “feigning of injury” in the turtle dove. 
— ‘ Trans. Watford Nat. Hist. Soc.,’ Yol. II, p. 146. 
f Morris’s ‘ British Birds,’ vol. iii, p. 112. f lb., vol. i, p. 10. 
§ ‘ Animal Intelligence,’ p. 351. 
