The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals Part 22

Keeper Atkin regards the wedge-tailed eagle, of Australia, as the wisest species with which he has to deal. In the first place, all four of the birds in that flock recognize the fact that he is a good friend, not an enemy, and each day they receive him in their midst with cheerful confidence and friendship. In the fall when the time comes to catch them, crate them and wheel them half a mile to their winter quarters in the Ostrich House, they do not become frightened, nor fight against being handled, and submit with commendable sense and appreciation.

The one thing on which the wedge-tailed eagle really insists when in his summer quarters, is his daily spray bath from a hose. When his keeper goes in to give the daily morning wash to the cage, the eagles perch close above his head and screech and scream until the spray is turned upon them. Then they spread their wings, to get it thoroughly, and come out thoroughly soaked. When the spray is merely turned upon their log instead of upon the birds as they sit higher up, they fly down and get into the current wherever it may be.

Memory of the Cereopsis Goose. Keeper Atkin also showed me an instance of the wisdom of the cereopsis geese, from Van Diemens Land, South Australia. During the winter those birds are kept in the Wild-Fowl Pond; but in summer they are quartered in a secluded yard of the Crane's Paddock, nearly half a mile away. Twice a year these birds go under their own steam between those two enclosures.

When turned out of the Cranes' Paddock last November they at once set out and walked very briskly southward up the Bird's Valley, past the Zebra House. On reaching the Service Road, a quarter of a mile away, they turned to the left and kept on to the Wolf Dens.

There they turned to the right and kept on two hundred yards until they reached the walk coming down from the Reptile House. There they turned to the left, crossed the bridge, stopped at the gate to the Wild-Fowl Pond enclosure, and when the gate was opened they entered and declared themselves "at home."

Mr. Atkin says that in spring these birds show just as much interest in going back to their summer home. Falconry. We cannot do otherwise than regard the ancient sport of falconry as a high tribute to the mental powers of the genus _Falco._ The hunting falcons were educated into the sport of hawking, just as a boy is trained by his big brother to shoot quail on the wing. The birds were furnished with hoods and jesses, and other garnitures.

They were carried on the hand of the huntsman, and launched at unlucky herons and bitterns as an _intelligent_ living force.

The hunting falcon entered into the sport like a true sportsman, and he played the game according to the rules. The sport was cruel, but it was politely exciting, and it certainly was a fine exhibition of bird intelligence. Part of that intelligence was instinctive, but the most of it was acquired, by educational methods.

Outstanding Traits in a Few Groups of Birds. In creatures as much lacking in visible expression as most birds are, it is difficult to detect the emotions and temperaments that prevail in the various groups. Only a few can be cited with certain confidence.

Vanity Displays in Birds. The males of a few species of birds have been specially equipped by nature for the display of their natural vanity. Anyone who has seen a Zoological Park peac.o.c.k working overtime on a Sunday afternoon in summer when the crowds of visitors are greatest, solely to display the ocellated splendor of his tail plumage, surely must conclude that the bird is well aware of the glories of his tail, and also that he positively enjoys showing off to admiring audiences.

These displays are not casual affairs in the ordinary course of the day's doings. It is a common thing for one of our birds to choose a particularly conspicuous spot, preferably on an elevated terrace, from which his display will carry farthest to the eyes of the crowd. Even if the bird were controlled by the will of a trainer for the purpose of vanity display, the exhibition could not possibly be more perfect. Like a good speaker on a rostrum, the bird faces first in one direction and then in another, and occasionally with a slow and stately movement it completely revolves on its axis for the benefit of those in the rear. "Vain as a peac.o.c.k" is by no means an unjustifiable comparison.

Plumage displays are indulged in by turkeys, the blue bird of paradise, the greater and lesser birds of paradise, the sage grouse and pinnated grouse, ruffed grouse, golden pheasant and argus pheasant.

On the whole, we may fairly set down vanity as one of the well defined emotions in certain birds, and probably possessed by the males in many species which have not been provided by nature with the means to display it conspicuously.

Materials for Study. In seeking means by which to study the mental and temperamental traits of wild birds and mammals, the definite and clearly cut manifestations are so few in kind that we are glad to seize upon everything available. Of the visible evidences, pugnacity and the fighting habit are valuable materials, because they are visible. Much can be learned from the fighting weakness or strength of animals and men.

In our great collections of birds drawn from all the land areas of the globe, our bird men see much fighting. Mr. Crandall has prepared for me in a condensed form an illuminating collection of facts regarding

PUGNACITY IN CAPTIVE BIRDS

1. Most species do more or less compet.i.tive fighting for nesting sites or mates, especially:

Gallinaceous birds,--many of which fight furiously for mates;

The Ruff, or Fighting Snipe (_Machetes pugnax_),--very pugnacious for mates;

House Sparrows (_Pa.s.ser domesticus_) fight for nesting places and mates; and

Some Waterfowl, especially swans and geese, fight for nesting places.

2. Most species which do not depend chiefly upon concealment, fight fiercely in defense of nests or young. Typical examples are:

Geese;

Swans;

The larger Flycatchers;

Birds of prey, especially the more powerful ones, such as Bald Eagles, Duck Hawks and Horned Owls.

3. Some species fight in compet.i.tion for food. Conspicuous examples are:

The fiercer hawks;

Some carrion eaters, as the King Vulture, Black, Sharp-Shinned, Cooper, Gos and Duck Hawks, which fight in the air over prey.

4. Certain birds show pugnacity in connection with the robber instinct, as:

Bald Eagle, which robs the Osprey;

Skua and Jaeger, which rob gulls.

5. Some species show general pugnacity. Species to be cited are:

Ca.s.sowaries, Emus and Ostriches, all of which are more or less dangerous;

Saras Cranes, which strike wickedly and without warning;

Some Herons, especially if confined, and

Birds of Paradise, which are unreasonably quarrelsome.

6. In non-social birds, each male will fight for his own breeding and feeding territory. The struggle for territory is a wide one, and it is now attracting the attention of bird psychologists.

Birds are no more angelic than human beings are. They have their faults and their mean traits, just as we have; but their repertoire is not so great as ours. In every species that we have seen tried out in captivity, the baser pa.s.sions are present. This is equally true of mammals. In _confinement_, in every herd and in every flock from elephants down to doves, the strong bully and oppress the weak, and drive them to the wall.

_The most philosophic and companionable birds_ are the parrots, parakeets, macaws and c.o.c.katoos.

_The birds that most quickly recognize protection_ sanctuaries and accept them, are the geese, ducks and swans.

_The game birds most nervous and foolish, and difficult to maintain in captivity,_ are the grouse, ptarmigan and quail.

_The bird utterly dest.i.tute of sense_ in captivity is the loon.

_The birds that are most domineering_ in captivity are the cranes.

_The birds that are most treacherous_ in captivity are the darters (_Anhinga_).

_The birds that go easiest and farthest in training_ are the parrots, macaws and c.o.c.katoos.

_The most beautiful bird species of the world_ are about fifty in number; and only a few of them are found among the birds of paradise.

The minds of wild birds are quite as varied and diversified as are the forms and habits of the different orders and genera. XVI

THE WISDOM OF THE SERPENT

OF all the vertebrates, the serpents live under the greatest handicaps. They are hated and destroyed by all men, they can neither run nor fly far away, and they subsist under maximum difficulties. Those of the temperate zone are ill fitted to withstand the rigors of winter.

And yet the serpents survive; and we have not heard of any species having become extinct during our own times.

It is indeed worth while to "consider the wisdom of the serpent."

Without the exercise of keen intelligence all the snakes of the cultivated lands of the world long ago would have been exterminated. The success of serpents of all species in meeting new conditions and maintaining their existence in the face of enormous difficulties compels us, as reasoning beings, to accord to them keen intelligence and ratiocination.