INSTINCTS OF BIRDS. 269 



share of intelligence. The wren, for example, 

 usually adapts the exterior of its compact fabric, 

 to the situation in which it is placed. When 

 built against a haystack, hay is almost invariably 

 made use of, and green mosses, or withered 

 leaves and fern are employed, as green or the 

 various shades of brown prevail in its vicinity. 

 Nor let it be imagined, that these substances, 

 which from their contiguity are often most 

 easily procured, are selected as a matter of con- 

 venience merely ; for I have known this minute 

 bird bring long pieces of straw from a consider- 

 able'distance with much toil, and with incredible 

 perseverance mould the stubborn material to 

 its purpose, solely because its colour approached 

 that of a garden wall, a hole in which, occa- 

 sioned by the giving way of a loose brick, it 

 had chosen to place its nest in. 



A lady who keeps canaries was obliged to 

 separate a young brood from their parents, having 

 observed that the male bird stripped off the 

 soft feathers from their necks and wings for the 

 purpose of lining a newly constructed nest with 

 them, notwithstanding a supply of old feathers 

 had been put into the cage. From this remark- 

 able fact, for which I am indebted to Dr. W. 

 Henry, it is evident, that canaries do not collect 

 materials for their nests indiscriminately, but 



