Baron Von Pernau, Pioneer Student of Bird Behavior

Vol.64•[ ST•SEMANN,Baron von Pernau 35 1947 .i the Illinois prairiesare the Dickcissel,Lark Sparrow,Western Hens- low's Sparrow,Leconte's Sparrow, Nelson's Sparrow, Western Mead- owlark, and Yellow-headed Blackbird. Most of these birds are still uncommonas far east as Ohio, but the Western t-Ienslow'sSparrow nestsin considerablenumbers at someplaces in Ohio and Pennsyl- vania and has increased also in New York State. Prairie-Horned Larks have long been commonin open places,but until the land was cleared there were none within 300 miles of Toledo. Western Meadowlarkshave been observedin larger numbers,1938-1945, in Michigan,and near Indianapolisand Chicago. Man hasalso purposely augmented the food supplyof birds. He has left, in fencerows and hedges,weeds and shrubswhose seeds or fruits are relishedby the birds. He has planted sunflowersand numerousother herbs,shrubs, vines, and treesto provide food for them. Man has aided the birds in other ways. Shelterof plant growthon the bordersof fields,nesting boxes, feeding shelves, and drinkingand bathingplaces have addedto their safetyand comfort. Puttingout foodfor themhas enabled many to survivein badweather. Many kindsof birdsare saferwhen living nearman. He no longer confinesthem to cagesto hear them sing. In this country,except in lawlesscommunities, he doesnot shoot songbirds for food or becausehe hasno other living creaturesto shootat. This changed attitude toward birds has come about mainly in recent decades. Much credit for it is due the Audubon Societies and other associa- tionsfor the protectionof birds. Probablyeven more hasbeen done by the schools,many of them aided by natural historymuseums. They have succeededin gettingthe childreninterested in finding out more about the life of birds and in that way becomingmore sympathetictoward them. Bowling Green Ohio BARON VON PERNAU, PIONEER STUDENT OF BIRD BEHAVIOR BY ERWIN STRESEMANN HARDLYanyone interested in the study of bird behavior will have heardof FerdinandAdam Pernauer, Baron yon Perney. His name has neverbeen mentionedin any of the treatiseson the historyof ornithology,and his writingshave remainedin almost completeobscurity until quite recently,yet he deservesto be ranked among thosewho paved the way for the modern methodsof inves- 36 SSEMANN,Baron von Pernau [Auk [.Jan. tigatingbird life; his originalityis comparableonly to that of the most eminent promotersof this branch of science-Altum,Heinroth, Eliot Howard, Edmund Selous-not to mention those still active in our midst. The aim of descriptivebiology is to registerfacts, while a student of behavior, passingbeyond the mere descriptivestage, endeavors to find out the causesof behavior,using as his methodscomparison or experimentor both together. No wonder, therefore,that behav- iorism developedonly when scientists,after a century or more of registeringfacts, no longerwanted to know only what is goingon, but alsowhy the actionstake this and no other course. The more astonishingit is that alreadyin the early 18th Century there lived a close observer of bird life who found satisfaction in comparisonand, as we would call it nowadays,causal analysis. The studyof the biologyof birds was,at his time, almosta virgin field. The few booksrelating to birds were more or lessconcerned with grouping them accordingto their external features,like Willough- by's'Ornithologiae Libri Tres' (1676),or if they enteredon the sub- ject of life history,it wasstill done in a rather superficialway and with scanty personal experience,like Gesner's'Historia Animal- ium' (1555). Pernau had practically all the boundlessfreedom of the first ex- plorer. What he knew and recordedwere the fruits of his own efforts; how to dealwith the factswas left completelyto his ingenuitysince no predecessorhad developeda methodand, by so doing,curtailed the inventiveactivity and variety of investigationsof his successors. He foundhimself in a positionheld later on, in the fieldof morpho- logical facts,by Linnaeus. When Pernau,in 1702,started writing about birds, no attemptto classifythem accordingto relationshiphad yet been publishedin Germany.This wasa subjectwhich fascinated him and, beinga closeobserver of the livinganima[ rather than a cabinetzoologist, he proceededto group birds on the basisof their behavior. With thismethod he becamethe forerunnerof a nowflourishing school. Beforequoting some of the choicestsamples of Pernau'sskill as an observerand interpreter,it seemsindispensable to give a few biographicaland bibliographicaldetails. For a fuller statement,see the writer'sarticles in Journalf/ir Ornithologie,73: 603-621,1925, and 74: 688-689, 1926. The heroof this appreciation,Johann Ferdinand Adam Pernauer, Freiherrvon Perney,Herr auf Rosenau,was born November7, 1660, Vol.64'] S'r•I•MANN,Baron von Pernau 37 1947 .I at $tcinach in Lower Austria. When hc was a boy of about ten years,his family, becauseof its Lutheranfaith, had to leaveAustria and settled in Franconia. Hcrc Ferdinand Adam, at the age of 16 years,entered the Universityof Altdorfnear Nnrcmbcrg, at thistime of high reputation,and hcrc hc obtainedhis doctor'sdegree. There followed the careerof young men of wealthy nobility--variousposi- tions at court and in government,and travels to distant countries like Italy (1õ84), France and Holland, all of which helped him to becomea man-of-the-world.Gifted as hc was, hc becamehighly in- tcrcstcdin the literary productionsof someof his great French con- temporaries,and his translationsof Madeleine dc $cud•ry's and Boilcau'sselected writings wcrc by far the first to appearon the Ger- man bookmarket (1682, 1694). In 1692hc married Maria Elisabeth Hcndt yon R6mingsdorff,and soonafterwards seems to have acquired the manor of Roscnau,near Coburg,where hc lived until his death on October 14, 1731,mourned by his widow who survivedhim by 23 years. Though continuingto hold high and responsiblepositions at the court of the Duke of Coburgand Gotha, it was the studyof nature, and in particular that of birds, to which he becamefully devoted sinceliving the country life at Rosenau. This was, he realized, the bestantidote against the depravityof his time, and his ardent desire to help othersout of the general breakdownof morals becamethe principal motive of his writing bookson birds. He never entered his name on the title page, refusing,as he put it himself, "to hunt after honors with this printed work." In the 1707 edition of his first book the author presentshimself as "A fancier contemplating the creaturesmade by God besideus human beings." All his booksremained anonymous for more than 200 years,when the presentwriter succeeded,in 1925,in unravellingthe mystery. In 1702, Pernau'sfirst book on birds was publishedwithout the author's consent. It bears the title: Unterricht/Was reit dem lieblichen GeschSpff,denen V6geln/auch ausserdem Fang/Nur durch die ErgrfindungDeren Eigenschafften/undZahmmachung/ oder anderer Abrichttmg/Man sicixvor Lust trod Zeitvertreib machen k6nne: gestelltDutch den t-Ioch-und Wohlgebohrnent-In. / Herrn v. P .... ! Freyherrn. Anno 1702. [small 4vø, 94 + 12 pages.]1 There followed a second (authorized)edition, considerablyaug- mented,in 1707,published at Coburgby Giinther Pfotenhauer[8vo, 240 q- 62 pages]. x Instruction/What pleasure may be derived/from these charming creatures, the birds/ besides their capture/ also through a thorough study of their habits/ as well as their tam- ing and training. 38 STRESEMANN,Baronyon Pernau L]-AukJan. The third edition, containingmaterial additions,appeared at Nur- embergin 1716 (P. C. Monath, publishers)under the new title: AnœenehmerZeit-Vertre•b, welehen das liebliehe Oeseh6pf Die V6gel, Aueh ausser dem Fang/in t•rgrfindung deren t•igenschaften/Zahmmaehung oder anderer Abriehtung / dem Mensehen sehaffenk6nnen; Mir vielen Anmerekungen versehen /und mir seh6nen ICupffern gezieret/Dnreh einen Die ersehaffenenCreatnren besehauendenLiebhaber. (8TM, 318 + 49 pages+ ]Register.]l This was so well receivedby the public that Pernau decidedto add a secondpart to it, therebymaking use of many additionalex- periences. He gave it the title: AnœenehmeLand-Lust / Deren man in StUdten und auf dem Lande, ohne sonder- bare Kosten, unschuldiggeniessen kan, oder yon Unterschied/ Fang / Einstellung und Abrichtung der Vfgel [etc.]. Franclcfnrt und Leipzig, zufinden bei Peter Conrad Monath, 1720. [8TM, 512 pages.] All theseeditions are extremely rare now,especially those of 1702and 1707,of which I could only trace three copiesin German libraries. Nothing couldintroduce us morefully into the scopeof thesebooks than the author's own remarks,written in that somewhatlong-winded German of baroque times and thereby hard to translate. "Many experienceshave taught me that the delight searchedfor in rebusnaturalibus is not subjectedto suchinstability as are those divertissementsthat are basedon humaninvention only, like playing and suchlike. The provincialnobility are mostlyfond of hunting; but very few of them gain thoroughknowledge appertaining to it. And becausea deer yieldsmore than a lot of partridges,it is im- possibleto convincemany of them that, comparedwith the joy of seeinga stagcollapse at the report of the musket,the investigation of the natureof variousbirds should not be somethingpaltry. But ignorancewould not havereached that mark yet if the contemptof physicalstudies were not more deeplyrooted and would only lead to preferring,when dealingwith natural things,that which bestfills the panand thepurse. But theevil sticksfar deeper.In highplaces peopleare not at all readyto

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