It would appear that the birds of this
archipelago, not having as yet learnt that man is a more dangerous
animal than the tortoise or the Amblyrhynchus, disregard him, in
the same manner as in England shy birds, such as magpies, disregard
the cows and horses grazing in our fields.
The Falkland Islands offer a second instance of birds with a
similar disposition. The extraordinary tameness of the little
Opetiorhynchus has been remarked by Pernety, Lesson, and other
voyagers. It is not, however, peculiar to that bird: the Polyborus,
snipe, upland and lowland goose, thrush, bunting, and even some
true hawks, are all more or less tame. As the birds are so tame
there, where foxes, hawks, and owls occur, we may infer that the
absence of all rapacious animals at the Galapagos is not the cause
of their tameness here. The upland geese at the Falklands show, by
the precaution they take in building on the islets, that they are
aware of their danger from the foxes; but they are not by this
rendered wild towards man. This tameness of the birds, especially
of the waterfowl, is strongly contrasted with the habits of the
same species in Tierra del Fuego, where for ages past they have
been persecuted by the wild inhabitants.
Pages:
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777