INSTINCTS or BIRDS. 275 



security, till the fatal day arrived in which the 

 wood was to be levelled. It was in the month 

 of February, when those birds usually sit. The 

 saw was applied to tlie but, the wedges were 

 inserted into the opening, the woods echoed to 

 the heavy blows of the beetle or mallet, the triee 

 nodded to its fall j but still the dam sat on. At 

 last, when it gave way, the bird was flung from 

 her nest; and though her parental affection 

 deserved a better fate, was whipped down by 

 the twigs, which brought her dead to the 

 ground.'* 



That ardent affection which most birds feel 

 for their young seems to awaken their dormant 

 energies and to inspire them with a degree of 

 courage and address that is called forth on no 

 other occasion. Nor is the violence of this 

 affection, to use the language of Mr. White, 

 more wonderful than the shortness of its diu^a- 

 tion. Thus, every hen is in her turn the virago 

 of the yard in propoition to the helplessness of 

 her brood, and will fly in the face of a dog or 

 a sow in defence of those chickens wliich in a 

 few weeks she will drive before her with relentless 

 cruelty. The partridge will tumble along before 

 a sportsman, in order to draw away the dogs 

 from her helpless covey; and a very exact 

 observer (the Rev. John White) has remarked, 

 2m2 



