Reasoning Tits It was delightfully said by a scientific writer
on birds that they could be much cleverer if they had to be. An example of this may be quoted from a northern garden this winter. A lump of fat was hung from the bough of a lilac bush just outside the window of the house. The blue tits to whom it was offered found the lump of desirable fat over-wobbly, so they now perch on the bough and draw the string up hand over fist. Now this trick has been often observed in caged birds—it is quoted by the tit-observer of caged red-polls—which in general may be said to develop a sort of skill more comparable with reason than instinct. Tits, doubtless, are more adaptable than most birds ; witness their discovery whenever the oppor- tunity was offered of the way into the cream at the top of sealed milk bottles. How different mentally are birds and insects, as the experience given below shows.
Previous page
