INSTINCT AND REASON. 
N a recent issue of the New York 
Evening Post, Caroline H. Dall 
writes interestingly on this 
. subject as follows : 
" I wish to draw the attention 
of such of your readers as are interested 
in the discussion of the nature of 
instinct, to a curious example of it, as 
distinct from reason, which I have 
lately witnessed. 
" Entering the parlor of a friend the 
other day, my attention was instantly 
attracted to a Florida Mockingbird. 
He was flying about in an eager 
manner, with something like a long 
black straw in his bill. My friend 
entering, I asked : ' What is your 
bird doing?' 'Building a nest,' she 
answered. ' Has he a mate ? ' ' No, 
he has never had one,' she replied, 
'nor has he ever seen a nest. That 
black straw is a shaving of whalebone 
which lasts him better than anything 
else.' At this moment the bird flew 
into a corner of the cage, and, stoop- 
ing, dropped the whalebone, waited a 
moment as if for some response, and 
then flew away to repeat the mancevre. 
" ' Does he not want something soft?' 
I asked. ' I sometimes give him yarn 
or'wool ; he tears it all up, works it all 
over, and then carries it to that corner. 
He evidently thinks it his duty to 
provide material, but he does not 
undertake to use it.' ' And what will 
he do next?' I asked. ' He will, after 
a day or two, brood over that corner, 
sitting close and spreading his wings 
out as broadly as possible. He does 
this two or three times a day.' ' And 
after that ? ' ' Later the paternal in- 
stinct seems to be aroused in a different 
way. He goes to his food cup, takes 
some food in his mouth, and drops it 
into his corner. He repeats this several 
times, as if he were feeding his young. 
I do not know how many young birds 
he ought to expect, but I should like 
to know, to see if he counts right ! ' 
" I have sometimes known a male 
canary to build a nest in the spring, 
carrying the process nearer to comple- 
tion, but I have never heard of an 
instance like this, and think it may 
interest others than myself." 
# * * * 
In spite of all the efforts that have 
been made in the interests of common 
sense and common humanity, there 
appears to be no doubt that the savage 
and indiscriminate slaughter of all 
birds of bright plumage is still going 
on for the gratification of feminine 
vanity. Indeed, the position of the 
unfortunate birds possessing the fatal 
gift of beauty seems to be worse than 
ever. There was sold the other day in 
London a consignment of nearly half a 
million birds, or. parts of birds, as 
follows: Osprey plumes, 11,352 ounces; 
Vulture plumes, 186 pounds ; Peacock 
feathers, 215,051 bundles; Birds of 
Paradise, 2,362 bundles; Indian Parrots, 
228,289 bundles ; Bronze Pigeons, 
including the Goura, 1,677 bundles; 
Tanagers and sundry birds, 38,198 
bundles; Humming birds, 116,490 
bundles ; Jays and Kingfishers, 48,759 
bundles ; Impeyan and other jungle 
fowl, 4,952 bundles ; Owls and Hawks, 
7,163 bundles. In one of the most 
widely circulated English papers the 
fashionable news from Paris begins : 
" Birds are worn more than ever, and 
blouses made entirely of feathers are 
coming into fashion." " Rare tropical 
feathers," ordered by specialists from 
abroad, are specified as those most 
likely to be in demand, but no bird of 
any kind is safe that has a feather 
capable of being used for feminine 
decoration. 
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