Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
counter. If their minds were not so simple and clean they might
take a leaf from the strategy of the higher human animal and stir up
dissension amongst their offspring. Their troubles would then be over.
From progress made to date I am inclined to the belief that the
ultimate break-up, when, if and as it occurs will come through
each of
the natural tendency of the young to assert its own individuality.
If the parents do not drive them off--and I now think that the skirm-
ishes witnessed can no longer be considered as mere training--it
eventually
purposely.
would seem that the young will draw apart themselves. There are no
visible signs of this at present . While they are separated from each
other most of the time, when they do get together they agree well.
For example, they lie side by side often, peck each other's feathers
and one of them, at least, still shows an inclination to feed the
others.
4:40 I have seen three raids this afternoon in the glade, or contem-
plated raids, as some of them were frustrated. Two or more of the young birds have been there a good part of the time, returning rather
quickly after the raids, when driven off. Brownie has been the offender each time. In the first one the young birds hid themselves when they
saw her coming and I distracted her attention with worms. The second
time one of the youngsters was sunning himself in a quail's dusting
hole and bolted under my chair when she rushed him. The other of the
two present was only 18 inches from the first and made himself less
conspicuous by crouching down and not stirring. Again I bribed Brownie with worms which she took to the nest. The third time she dashed
into the sage where they were and they fled. As she emerged I exhibited
worms and she forgot the raid, but came to me with a feather
sticking to her bill, so evidently she "landed" that time. She gathered
and prepared four worms and went off in the direction of the nest
with the feather still sticking to her bill. This act of laying
the worms on the ground and beating them about duplicates her per-