BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 109 



he can still find it in him to open his mouth and 

 call for more. 



How wonderful it is that this parental instinct, 

 so beautiful in its perfect simulation of the action 

 of the bird that has lost the power of flight, 

 should be found in so large a number of species! 

 But when we find that it is not universal; that in 

 two closely-allied species one will possess it and 

 the other not; and that it is common in su^h 

 widely-separated orders as gallinaceous and 

 passerine birds, in pigeons, ducks, and waders, it 

 becomes plain that it is not assignable to com- 

 munity of descent, but has originated independ- 

 ently all over the globe, in a vast number of 

 species. Something of the beginnings and pro- 

 gressive development of this instinct may be 

 learnt, I think, by noticing the behaviour of vari- 

 ous passerine birds in the presence of danger, to 

 their nests and young. Their actions and cries 

 show that they are greatly agitated, and in a 

 majority of species the parent bird flits and flut- 

 ters round the intruder, uttering sounds of dis- 



