| OCR Text |
Show 10 !-;BX.UAJ, !-;ELE "l'ION : BIRD:;. 1'.\ nT JL strong antipathies and preferences female birds occa:; ionally evince towards pm-ticular males. llfental (JuaUties of Birds, cmcl thei1· taste jot;· tlte .beaut-if ul.-JJefore we di ·cuss any further the question whether the females select the more attractive males or accept tho first whom they may encounter, it will be advisable briefly to consider the mental powers of birds. Their reason is generally, and perhaps justly, ranked as low ; yet some facts could be given ° leading t o an opposite conclusion. Low powers of reasoning, lJOwever, arc compatible, as we soc with mankind, with strong affections, acute perception, and a taste for the beautiful; and it is with these latter qualities that we are hero concerned. It has often been said that parrots become so deeply attached to each other that when one dies the other for a long time pines ; but 1\'I:r. Jenner vV eir thinks that with most birds the strength of their affection has been much exaggerated. N cvcrtheless when one of a pair in a state of nature bas been shot, the survivor bas been beard for days afterwards uttering a plaintive call; and Mr. St. J obn gives 10 various facts proving tho attachment of mated birds. Starlings, however, as we have seen, may be consoled thrice in the same day for the loss of their mates. In tho Zoological Gardens parrots ha,vc clearly " individuals on tho same errand of mercy. One uf tll cso lw killed; "tho other he also shot, but could not find. No more cq,mc on the Jiko ·" fruitless crrrtnd." n :For instrtuce, Mr. Yan·ell strttcs (' liii:;t. British Birds,' vol. iii. l 815, p. 585) that a gull was not able t o swallow a small bird which bad brcn given to it. The gull "paused for a moment, and then, as if suddenly ' 'recoll ecting himself, run oft' at full speed to a pan of water, shook tile " bird about in it until well soaked, uncl immediately gulped it down. "Since th at time he invariably has had recourse: to the sume expedient ·'' in similar cases." 10 'A 'four in Suthcrlandshirc,' vol. i. 184.!), p. 185. CHAP. XI\' . MENTAT~ QUALITIES. 109 recognised their former masters after an interval of some months. Pigeons have such excellent local memories that they have been known to return to thoi1• former homes after an interval of nine months, yet, aR I hear from Mr. Harrison Weir, if a pair which would naturally re:main mated for life be separated for a few weeks during the winter and matched with other birds the two, when brought together again, rarely, if ever: ror,ognise each other. . Birds sometimes exhibit benevolent feelings ; they w1ll fe~d the deserted young even of distinct species, but th1s perhaps ought to be considered as a mistaken instinct. They will also feed, as shewn in an oarlior part of this work, adult birds of their own species which have become blind. l\1:r. Buxton gives a curious account of a parrot which took care of a frost-bitten and crippled bird of a distinct species, cleansed her feathers an~ defended her from the attacks of the other parrots whwh roamed freely about his garden. It is a still more curious fact that these birds apparently evince some sympathy for the pleasures of their fellows. When a pair of cockatoos made a nest in an acacia tree, " it "was ridiculous to see the extravagant interest taken " in the matter by the others of tho same species.'' These parrots, also, evinced unbounded curiosity, and clearly had "the idea of property and possession." 11 Birds possess acute powers of observation. Every mated bird, of course, recognises its fellow. Audubon states that with the mocking-thrushes of the United States (Mimus polyglottus) a certain number remain all the year round in Louisiana, whilst the others migrate to the Eastern States; these latter, on their return, 11 Acclimatization of Pnrrols,' by C. Buxton, 1\I.P. 'A llnnl:> and Mag. of Nat. flist.' Nov. 18G8, p. 38 l. |
