INTRODUCTION. 13 



are not very dissimilar to these ; yet it is singular to remark, that 

 while our common geese and ducks, like domestic fowls, have no 

 permanent selective attachment for their mates, the Canadian Wild- 

 goose, the Eider>duck, and some others, are constantly and faithfully 

 paired through the season ; so that this neglect of comfortable ac- 

 commodation for the young in the fabrication of an artificial nest, 

 common to these with the rest of their tribe, has less connexion 

 with the requisition of mutual aid, than with the hardy and pre- 

 cocious habits of these unmusical, coarse, and retiring birds. It is 

 true, that some of them show considerable address, if little of art, 

 in providing security for their brood ; in this way some of the 

 Razor-bills (including the Common PufSn) do not trust the exposure 

 of their eggs, like the Gulls, who rather rely on the solitude of their 

 retreat, than art in its defence ; but with considerable labor some 

 of the Alcas form a deep burrow for the security of their eggs and 

 young. 



Birds of the same genus differ much in their modes of nidification. 

 Thus the Martin makes a nest within a rough-cast rampart of mud, 

 and enters by a flat opening in the upper edge. The Cliff Swallow 

 of Bonaparte, seen about Portland in Maine and Nova Scotia, as 

 well as in the remote regions of the West, conceals its warm and 

 feathered nest in a receptacle of agglutinated mud, resembling a 

 narrow-necked purse or retort. Another species, in the Indian seas, 

 forms a small receptacle for its young entirely of interlaced gelatin- 

 ous fibres, provided by the mouth and stomach ; these fabrics, stuck 

 in clusters against the rocks, are collected by the Chinese, and boiled 

 and eaten in soups as the rarest delicacy. The Bank-Martin, like 

 the King-Fisher, burrows deep into the friable banks of rivers to 

 secure a depository for its scantily feathered nest. The Chimney- 

 Swallow, originally an inhabitant of hollow trees, builds in empty 

 chimneys a mere nest of agglutinated twigs. The Woodpecker, 

 Nuthatch, Titmouse, and our rural Blue-Bird, secure their young 

 in hollow trees; and the first oflen gouge and dig through the 

 solid wood with the success and industry of instinctive carpenters, 

 and without the aid of any other chisel than their wedged bills. 



But the most consummate ingenuity of ornithal architecture is 

 displayed by the smaller and more social tribes of birds, who, in 

 proportion to their natural enemies, foreseen by nature, are provided 

 with the means of instinctive defence. In this labor both sexes 

 generally unite, and are sometimes occupied a week or more in 

 completing this temporary habitation for their young. We can only 

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