46 INTELLIGENCE AND INSTINCT; 



137. The instinctive actions of animals relate either to 

 the procuring of food, or to the rearing of their young ; 

 in other words, they have for their end the preservation of 

 the individual and of the species. It is by instinct that the 

 leopard conceals himself, and awaits the approach of his 

 prey. It is equally by instinct that the spider spreads his 

 web to entangle the flies which approach it. 



138. Some animals go beyond these immediate precau- 

 tions ; their instinct leads them to make provision for the 

 future. Thus the squirrel lays in his store of nuts and 

 acorns during autumn, and deposits them in cavities of 

 trees, which he readily finds again in winter. The hamster 

 digs, by the side of his burrow, compartments for magazines, 

 which he arranges with much art. Finally, the bee, 

 more than any other animal, labors in view of the future ; 

 and for this reason, she has become the emblem of order 

 and domestic economy. 



139. Instinct exhibits itself, in a no less striking manner, 

 in the anxiety which animals manifest for the welfare of 

 their anticipated progeny. All birds build nests for the 

 shelter and nurture of their young, and in some cases, these 

 nests are made exceedingly comfortable. Others show 

 very great ingenuity in concealing their nests from the eyes 

 of their enemies, or in placing them beyond their reach. 

 There is a small bird in the East Indies, the tailor bird, 

 (Sylvia sutoria), which spins wool or cotton into threads, 

 with its feet and beak, and uses it to sow together the 

 leaves of trees for its nest. 



140. The nest of the fiery hang-bird, (Icterus Baltimore), 

 dangling from the extremity of some slender, inaccessible 

 twig, is familiar to all. The beautiful nest of the humming- 

 bird, seated on a mossy bough, and itself coated with lichen 

 and lined with the softest down from the cotton-grass or the 

 mullein leaf, is calculated equally for comfort and for es- 

 caping observation. An East Indian bird, (Ploceus Philippi- 



