Abstract
A REMARKABLE instance of animal intelligence has lately come under my notice, which I venture to relate as being possibly of interest to the readers of NATURE. In a neighbour's bungalow in this district two of our common house-swallows (Hirundo javanica) built their nest, selecting as their site for the purpose the top of a hanging lamp that hangs in the dining-room. As the lamp is either raised or depressed by chains fixed to a central counter-weight, these chains pass over pulleys fixed to a metal disk above, on which the nest was placed. The swallows evidently saw that, if the pulleys were covered with mud, moving the lamp either up or down would destroy the nest; so to avoid this natural result they built over each pulley a little dome, allowing sufficient space, both for wheel and chain to pass in the hollow so constructed, without danger to the nest, which was not only fully constructed, but the young birds were reared without further danger. This is, in my opinion, a wonderful example of adaptation to environment, and showing a step far beyond what may be contended as instinct only.
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LEWIS, F. Animal Intelligence. Nature 34, 265 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/034265a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/034265a0
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