of the United States of America. 59 



facts related by Dr. Jenner on the subject of the cuckoo. I 

 am unwilling to believe that any bird, as helpless as a young 

 cuckoo is before its eyes are open, has the power, or even the 

 inclination, to eject from its nest the young and eggs which it 

 feels around it. Why should this feeble creature, so feeble 

 that it cannot support itself upon its legs, wish to get rid of 

 companions which in no respect incommode it ; but which, 

 on the contrary, add to its convenience ? For it cannot be 

 denied, that a single bird, when first hatched, is less comfort- 

 ably situated than when it is accompanied with nest-mates, 

 the softness of whose down has a tendency to maintain that 

 equality of warmth which callow young require. As to the 

 ejection of eggs by the newly hatched cuckoo, it cannot be 

 the fact ; the physical powers of the bird not being adequate 

 to the purpose. 



It is no unusual circumstance for a bird to commence sitting 

 upon her first egg; and this frequently happens in those places 

 where egg-destroying birds abound. Now if, on the hatching 

 of the first egg, the vital action in the remainder were inter- 

 rupted by the absence of the parent, the embryos which they 

 contained would perish ; nay, the young already hatched 

 would also perish: but no such interruption in reality takes 

 place. The bird that begins incubation upon her first egg, 

 although her complement may amount to five or more, as 

 certainly brings forth the whole brood as there are embryos 

 contained in them. The absence of the parent is but for 

 short intervals. Her first care, in hatching, is to remove the 

 shells. This performed, she seeks food ; and is more solicitous 

 to remain in the nest, after the appearance of the young, than 

 before. The conduct of the domestic hen, at the period of 

 her hatching, is a good exemplification of that of all birds in 

 like circumstances. Before the appearance of the young, she 

 will not hesitate to quit her nest for the space of an hour at 

 a time ; but the moment the first chick breaks its covering, 

 the disposition to continue incubation, instead of abating, re- 

 ceives a new impulse ; her maternal affections are aroused ; 

 the titillation, occasioned by the contact of the chicken with 

 her body, affords her exquisite pleasure ; and so anxious is 

 she to to guard her progeny from harm, that she would rather 

 forego the wants of nature, than forsake her nest, until her 

 brood have acquired sufficient strength to accompany her. 



The habit which small birds have of bestowing the same 

 attention upon their callow young, as regards brooding them, 

 as upon their eggs during incubation, is so universal, that it 

 is a matter of wonder how it could have escaped the attention 

 of so observing a naturalist as Wilson was. But let it be 



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