THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2170, 26 September 1895, Page 49

THE NATURALIST.

Acclimatisation o£ Birds in Germany.

In Ueber Land und Meer the editor of Die gefioderte Welt describes a new and interesting experiment in acclimatisation. One Herr yon Proscb, not liktug to keep his pets in cages, reflected that almost all our domestic animals, especially the common hen, are Datives of hot countries, and that tropical birds are successfully wintered in the open air in German zoological gardens. Acting on these hint* he determined to try the experiment of a free life for his canaries. After accustoming a number of canaries to the freedom of a large room, he brgan to open small windows so tbat they could fly out and in, always feeding them inside the room. They soon began to build nests ontj aide and rear their ycurg there. An intereat- ' ing point is that though part of the birds set free were yellow, the whole tribe, under the , influence of the wild life, recovered the green colour which belongs to canaries in their native islands. The experiment was next tried with two pairs of South American parrots. They raise* a brood of young in the summer of 1894, and both old and young passed safely through the exceptionally lorig and hard winter of 1894-95, bo that no fear ia now felt as to their ability to stand the weather. Another danger more threatening than fro»t has been escaped ; only occe has one of the parrots been wounded by a shot, and they arenoirsowell known for 10 miles around that no one thinks of hurting them. In recognition of his auccess, Herr yon Proscb. received ! a gold medal at the Exposition of the Orniij Verein in Berlin. The place of the experii ments waß near Lobau, in gouth-eaatern Saxony, where the average winter temperature is nearly the same as at New York and St. Louis, while the summers are as cool as at Quebec. Bwimmikg.— Although swimming cornea naturally to most of the lower animals, it is a universal law with man tbat the power of swimming has to be acquired. At the same time there i« no race in all the world to which the art ia unknown ; and in many barbarous conntries it is more diffused and carried to greater perfection than among civilised people. Animal HuMBUGS.—In military stables horses are known to have pretended to be lame in order to avoid goitig to a military exercise. A chimpanzee has been fed on cake when sick; after his recovery he oft«n feigned coughing in order to procure dainties. The cuckoo, as Ib well known, lays its eggs in another bird's nest, and to make the deception surer it takes away one ol the other bird's eggs. Animals are conscious of their deceit, as shown by the fact that they I try to act secretly and noiselessly ; they I show a sense of guilt if detected ; they take precautions in advance to avoid discovery ; in some cases they manifest regret and repentance. Thus, bees which steal hesitate often before and after their exploits, sb if they feared punishment. A naturalist deBcribts how his monkey committed theft] while he pretended to sleep the animal regarded him with hesitation, and stopped every time bis master moved or seemed on the point of awakening.