Abstract
HAVING studied Sir J. Lubbock's interesting book, I remembered a fact observed by me, which, though it is not conclusive, seems worth mentioning. I was amused some years ago to observe the feeding of the young in a sparrow-house near an upper window of my house. The old sparrow alighted upon the small veran la of the sparrow-house with four living cankerworms in his beak. Then the four young ones put out their heads, with the customary noise, and were fed each with a caterpillar. The sparrow went off, and returned after a while again with four living cankerworms in his beak, which were disposed of in the same manner. I was so interested and pleased with the process that I watched it for some time and during the following days.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
HAGEN, H. Do Animals Count?. Nature 40, 319 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/040319a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/040319a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.