    32

    to

    radically alter their personalities and even their physiques,

    apparently by tilting the captives' internal chemical balance.

    Biochemical resignation explains why barnyards are not a

    perpetual battlefield.  Chickens seldom get into major brawls.  True,

    when a stranger steps onto the scene, the intrusion triggers a riot.  But

    when the dust dies down, the feathered ladies settle into a stable order.

    The dominant female once again luxuriates in her prerogatives.  And

    the lowliest pullet endures her ignominious lot in life.  The pecking

    order's  hormonal  shifts  help  insure  this  peace.    Those  who  win  are

    flush with internal chemicals of pride.  And those who lose are

    numbed by glandular drugs that lull them into submission.

    The irony is that even the chickens on the bottom gain an

    advantage from the endogenous chemical brew that leaves them too

    lethargic to fight over their fate. If pecking order positions were up for

    constant grabs, each creature in the yard would have to spend her time

    in attacks and self-defense.  The non-stop battle would waste every

    bird's energy and time.  Well-fed chickens would grow scrawny

    watching out for ambush instead of scratching in the dirt for food.

    And some would do worse than merely lose weight.  They'd actually

    die from their wounds.64  A long-term truce has its benefits, even if it

    leaves you under everybody's heel.  At least it lets you live your life in

    quiet, freeing up your time to poke around for grubs and worms.  In

    the last analysis, the cocky aristocrats, the status-conscious crones in

    the middle, and even the picked-on runts have a solid reason to go

    with the status quo.

    The struggle for position in a pecking order is not restricted to

    individuals. It also hits social groups.65  There is a form of pecking

    order Schjelderup-Ebbe never studied--the pecking order of

    superorganisms.

    On the outskirts of an Indian village lived two tribes of

    langurs--lanky, curious monkeys.  It was easy to see which group had

    made it to the top of the pecking order.  One langur clan had staked

    out a territory in the center of town.  This group lived the life of Reilly.

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