As usual, I am pretty much on the same page with Mark on this. I am, however, not entirely sure that the "robin is not wise," that "she acts instinctually." Years ago I found a kitten near where I was house-sitting. I adopted her and she lived with me for 20 years. The late Pandora is buried in the garden out back.
The house I was keeping an eye on was owned by the director of a ballet company, and there was a big ballet mirror on one wall of the very large living room. When the kitten first saw her image in the mirror, she scratched at it with one of her paws. The mirror hung right next to a doorway, so the next thing she did was walk into the next room and look behind the mirror. Having ascertained that there was in fact no other cat to be encountered, just an image of one (or whatever it was she ascertained), she never looked in the mirror again. This process seemed to me to have all the earmarks of trial, error, and experimentation.
Pandora was one smart kitty, methinks.
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