Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-03-14
BIRD ,MIORArIONS.
The Philosophers Undecided Whether II
Is Due to Instinct, Intelligence or Habit.

The Philosophers Undecided Whether II
Is Due to Instinct, Intelligence or Habit.
Another arctic expedition returned
from the North few days ago. Its
arrival was announced by a loud,
''Honk! honk!" far up in the sky.
1t was composed of eleven memo
and was headed by a gray veteran,
who led his forces, arranged in the
form Of letterV, without the slight
est deviation due South. 1t was the
wild goose exposition, which, having
summered in the arctic, had decided
to winter in more temperate climes
1t is not to be supposed that they
reasoned the question of change of
location among themselves, consulted
almanacs and time tables or even
cOmpasseS to reach their decision OF
to decide on their course. Their ac-
ton was influenced not by what
psychologists know as higher cerebral
ti0n. AS the country folks say, they
felt in their bones that it was time to
move southwark, and South they
went under the wonderful influence
OF what Is called instinct.
To the older philosophers instinct
was far more wonderful thing than
it appears now. They asserted that
all the actions of the lower animals
were performed through instinct, AMI
explained that they possessed tIts
faculty in lieu of intelligence, which
was the peculiar attribute OF man.
This was, however, soon exploded by
The demonstration of the possession
of intelligence among animals and of
instinct by man. Indeed the later
philosophers have come to believe
that almost all the actionsof man are
influenced, if not controlled, by in-
stinct alone Instinct itself has been
explained as hereditary Intelligence;
that is to say, the repeated actions
Of the ancestors are more readily ac-
cOmplished by the child without re-
gard to the will or special adaptation.
The tendency to migration of GER
tain species Of animals is plainly re-
ferable to this hereditary influence.
Originally no doubt, migration oc-
CURED because food was more easily
found in one locality than in another
The hereditary memory, so TO speak,
pointed out the place where more
food was to be obtained with less eX-
ertiOn. Gradually other surroundings
suggested themselves as agreeable to
the embryo mind, and these, repeated
through many generations, created
that unthinking tendency toward a
a particular place or a particular
regardless of its original
fitness.
Almost all our ideas are gained
from association, and it is fair to
imagine that the constant and re-
peated association of a particular
locality with a pleasurable senSat on
the satiation of hunger for example
soon identify the sensation
with the place. Then would he
evolved the sentiment of home. a
sentiment which we feel only more
keenly than the lower animals be-
cause it is associated, not only with
the place where there is something to
eat, but because of other plelsurablc
equally associated with it
as they are constantly found in the
same locality.
1t is a mistake to regard the mi
gratCry instincts of an mails as uuerr-
ing. Every wOodsman has observed |
how particular species of bird Will
desert a certain locality
for another for one or more seasons.
Occasionally this may result from
choice, but it seems altogether more
probable that it is from some mis-
take on the part of the birds them
selves. Their generally accurate
course has been DETECTED by some
and they have made J
their homes elsewhere. In the case !
of straggIers this is particularly I
marked. They rarely succeed in re-
joining the main body to which they |
belonged and are forced 10 !
be content with whatever suitable !
place may be found. Migratory ami
mails and birds are almost always gre !
gariOus, that is they live and es-
pecially they travel IN compact nOcks !
DR. herds. They do this for one rea- J
son only, that the wisdom of a num- !
ber Is greater than that of any one. !
Any error in the route would be de- /
tected by one or another and thence !
communicated to the whole flock. |
Once in a while they are all mistaken,
and then some incoming steamer l
serves as point of rest for the tired
little wings, or some hitherto I'M
known country becomes the new home !
IF the wandering hOme-seekerS.
But there is much that is very won
lerful and awe-inspiring in the in
'tinct that guides them. If, indeed,
t Is merely the reflex of the memory
IF long-departed ancestors-if the
thoughts as well as the sins of the
'ather descend to remote generations,
What tendencies and inclinations are
We transmitting to our children which
nay in later generations develop to
rood or evil! Are we steering a
straight course, like the old grey
Sun