On Birds alluring Intruders from their Nest. 483 



incapable of speech : for, though their external senses are 

 not inferior to our own, and though we should allow some of 

 them to possess a dawning of comparison, reflection, and 

 judgment, it is certain that they are unable to form that asso- 

 ciation of ideas in which alone the essence of thought consists." 

 (p. 199, 200.) 



Gelly^ Mo7itgomeryshire, March 1. 1834. 



Art. II. Facts and Arguments in relation to the Two Questions, 

 Are all Birds in the Habit of alluring Intruders from their Nest? 

 andf Why do Birds sing f By C. Conway, Esq. 



Are all Birds in the Habit of alluring Intruders from their 

 Nests? — The lapwing will fly round and round, tumbling and 

 tossing in the air, and at the same time making the country 

 resound with the echoes of its endless pee-wit, and thus lead 

 the intruder farther and farther from its nest ; the grouse, if 

 disturbed from hfer nest, will shuffle through the heath in a 

 very awkward manner, and will not take wing until she has 

 proceeded a considerable distance. [The partridge will do 

 the same.] I once found a skylark do the same. Having 

 been informed of the nest, in a corn field, I proceeded thither 

 to see the eggs, but, finding the bird on the nest, and having 

 my butterfly net in my hand, I easily captured her. When 

 I took the bird into my hand, she feigned death, and allowed 

 herself to be handled for a considerable time, and that rather 

 roughly, and when I threw her from me, in the expectation 

 that she would take wing, she fell to the ground like a stone, 

 and there she lay for me to push her about with my foot, 

 until I at last thought that I had injured her in the capture, 

 and that she was absolutely dead. Remaining quiet, however, 

 for a very short period, the bird began moving, and, with one 

 wing trailing along the ground, and shuffling along as if one 

 of her legs had been broken, she proceeded for a considerable 

 distance, and then took wing. Is there not here an evident 

 distinction shown between instinct and reason? Instinct 

 taught the bird to lure all intruders from her nest, but she 

 could not reason that, as I had already discovered her nest 

 and captured her upon it, the lure w^as, in this instance, 

 useless. But, the circumstance that led to these remarks is 

 the following. In pursuing an azure blue butterfly, I was 

 diverted from my object by the melodies of a nightingale 

 almost close at my side. The singing was in one continuous, 

 incessant, and uninterrupted melody; there were none of 



I I 2 



