136 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 
cuckoo and the American cowbird, the young of which are reared by 
foster-parents of many diverse species, would argue for little power in 
this direction. Yet, in some cases, the foreign body is promptly re- 
moved, when the nest is not summarily deserted through fear. 
The freedom with which certain finches and grosbeaks learn to 
imitate difficult notes, and the fair degree of precision with which some 

Fic. 34. THE SAME FLICKER as shown in Fig. 33, after new habit of entering 
opened nest was formed. 
of the parrots, crows, Jays, jackdaws and magpies reproduce spoken 
words, or even short sentences, show that they readily discriminate 
differences in the pitch of sounds, although they do not possess a cochlea 
of the complexity of structure found in mammals, and it is the cochlea 
in which this power is supposed to reside in man. It is interesting to 
note that the magpie, though a star performer in this art, never exhibits 
it, according to Blackwall, in a state of nature. 
The bower birds of Australia show a decided liking for bright and 
colored objects of various kinds, which they work into their remarkable 
“runs,” bowers, or “ play-houses,” and the crow, and other members 
of his tribe, which are commonly regarded as the most intelligent of 
birds, can seldom be trusted in the presence of any small and shining 
objects whatsoever, which they will steal, and either carry off and hide, 
or work into their nests. ‘To mention a trivial case—a tame young 
crow once entered my room, made off with some objects on the dressing 
table, and deposited them on a belfry-roof hard by. Again, the hooded 
