54 THE NOTEBOOK OF A CITY NATURALIST. 



able to feed themselves, and that merely need the parental 

 warmth and education ? Others, as the martins and wood- 

 peckers, have to toil to make a home where "she may lay her 

 young." To how many is the home, the nest, a source of 

 danger during the building, whilst the eggs are being 

 deposited, while they are being incubated, and when the 

 young are being reared ? Scores of questions may be asked, 

 of which I have merely suggested one or two that ought to 

 be answered by the Scientist, if he expects the Observer of 

 Nature to believe him in his assertions as to protective 

 colouration, natural selection, and such other phrases, 

 which merely mean that he does not believe in the Creative 

 Power of an Almighty who rules the universe and has 

 made laws to prevent the multiplication of species. 



