. The home life of wild birds; a new method of the study and photography of birds. Birds; Photography of birds. Fear in Birds. I 2 I but I believe that by far the greater number of such .stra\'s are driven forth b_v friylit, and when this perilous step has once been taken it can seldom be retraced. The young of such birds as the Wilson thrushes, whose nests arc on or near the ground out of the reach of storms, are often found in this predicament.' Many immature birds which I have watched at the nest show no precise powers of discrimination in any direc- tion. You will see them respond as promp
. The home life of wild birds; a new method of the study and photography of birds. Birds; Photography of birds. Fear in Birds. I 2 I but I believe that by far the greater number of such .stra\'s are driven forth b_v friylit, and when this perilous step has once been taken it can seldom be retraced. The young of such birds as the Wilson thrushes, whose nests arc on or near the ground out of the reach of storms, are often found in this predicament.' Many immature birds which I have watched at the nest show no precise powers of discrimination in any direc- tion. You will see them respond as promptly to the flutter of a leaf or the call- note of any passing bird as to their own mother's voice but a more curious specta- cle be witnessed when a fledgling of one of our common species like, the Baltimore Oi'iole climbs to the top of its nest. All the others immediately salute it as if it were an old bird, and with open mouths beg vainly to be fed. If a young bird within a day of taking flight cannot distinguish one of its brothers from its mother, it can hardly be expected to " know a hawk from a handsaw," or an enemy from a friend. After taking flight the young of altricial birds are fed by one or both parents for a period of da\'s or weeks, and much is cpiickly learned by imitation and in- dividual experience. Their ingrained sense of fear becomes in the course of time gradually specialized in certain directions. Fear of man, guns, hawks, snakes, cats and the various agents of destruction with which each species must contend in the course of its life, seems in every case to be acquired or learned rather than inherited. On the last day of June I found a Cowbird nearly full-fledged but either unable or disinclined to fly. He occupied the nest of a warbler, apparentl}- the species known as. Fig. ii8. Brown Thrush startled while at nest ; attitude of keen attention. ^ The huge pot-belly of the young altricial bird has a u^e quite apart from the function of dig
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1901
