Of Birds and Men

These crimes were being com mitted, not in the slum district of a great city, but along a hedge of lilacs on the grounds of the Wil helmineriberg Biological Station in Vienna. And the perpetrators 52 THE FREEMAN April of these misbehaviors were male and female specimens of a group of cattle egrets, a bird about half the size of the stork, imported from Tunisia by the famed animal psychologist, Professor Otto Koenig. His hope in this experi ment was to discover what might be expected of human beings con demned to a sort of super-welfare state, so fully mechanized that men need spend hardly any energy to subsist, protected by the state against sickness and old age, freed from work and care for a life of leisure. Similarity to Human Community From earlier observations un der natural conditions along the grassy shores of Neusiedler Lake near Vienna, Koenig had found that certain types of herons which breed and nest in colonies develop compact social structures similar to the human family, tribe, and community. This is why he chose the colony of cattle egrets for his model welfare state, observing them over a period of six years in a large enclosure outside the win dow of his study, providing them with every necessity for life and comfort: food, water, bathing fa cilities, and nesting materials.

At the 1965 annual meeting of the German Ornithological Society in Constance, Professor Koenig first reported the results of his prolonged investigation of cattle egret response to the guaranteed life, stressing two points: 1. The social order of the colony completely collapsed. 2. The sexual activity of the feathered creatures became ab normal. Within the enclosure, food al ways was at hand in abundance, so there was no need to go off in search of it. All members of the colony remained continually in sight of one another, literally pressed together. More frequently than under normal conditions there was strife, often bitter fighting. And as the fighting in creased, so did the sexual activity. While a male was feeding, his mate might be raped by a neighbor, leav ing her young in the nest to be mo lested by others. During the breed ing season, the hackles of the females were torn and bloodied by the claws of the sex-crazed males.

Koenig also noted a sexual jeal ousy not found among wild egrets or herons. In their natural state, other herons of a colony are un concerned about the home life of a couple; but in the Viennese cage, the mating act often evoked inter ference from other males. Three or four couples of the ex perimental egrets frequently banded together. Nest-building among egrets usually is initiated by the male, who selects the site 1966 OF BIRDS AND MEN 53 and then lures his companion to it. But in Koenig's enclosure, two or three females often would an swer the call to the nest; nor was it uncommon to find a sister or daughter of the male in his harem. Such polygamy became critical during the brooding period, with other females sitting atop the chief brooder. Now and again, Koenig saw egrets piled three deep on the eggs. Such congestion dis turbed the normal p.attern of parents taking turns sitting, and many of the eggs were either brok en or kicked out of the nest. Thus, the negligence induced by welfar ism resulted in declining numbers of healthy young egrets in the colony.

The rearing of the young birds also became a problem. In· wild colonies, as soon as the young herons are able to leave the nest they gather among the reeds for games of "catch" by which they learn to capture insects. So strong is their urge for self-reliance that the fledglings often fail to return home and parents must seek them out to feed them. In the Viennese experimental cage, however, the young egrets were simply beggars, incessantly pestering their ever-present elders for food. And apparently in search of quiet, the parents obliged, stuf fing the young ones not only to excess, but far beyond the time when they should have been able to care for themselves. The younger birds would be found still begging, even after they had off spring of their own - the grand parents caring for them all. Because of similarities between these egrets and other bipeds, Professor Koenig believes that what happened to the birds in his yard under super-welfare-state conditions might similarly affect human beings exposed to effortless material abundance without need or incentive for self-responsi bility. • Against Nature "IN MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Washington, a ranger cautions visitors against feeding the animals. The ranger explains that deer grow accustomed to visitors' handouts and lose ability to fend for themselves. Bears, he says, come to believe that free food Chipmunks and squirrels congregate where handouts are supplied, is their due - and becomegrouchy and violent if they don't get it.

and thus upset the balance of nature." From an editorial in The Richmond N eWB Leader A REVIEWER1S NOTEBOOK JIMMY HOFFA is the current devil among labor leaders. But a close reading of Hoffa and the Tea,m sters: a Study of Union Power, by Ralph and Estelle James (Van Nostrand, $6.95), leaves you won dering whether he is any worse or better than other professional brokers of the workingman's "in teTests." The Jameses make you feel that Hoffa differs from others in the guild mainly by his con tempt for public relations. He has been ruthless in his drive for power, and he uses his pension fund to build influence, and he is cynical about the law (which he regards as something to be ma nipulated). But if you accept his premise that society is a battle ground of warring interests, ev erything that he does falls logi cally into place. His end, which is to get good contracts for his truckers, is the excuse for the means, which are elaborated in terms of Chinese-style "fight, 54 JOHN CHAMBERLAIN OF THE ROAD fight, talk, talk" military cam paigning.