STUDY T. 



SI 



attention. Then they are determined in favour of 

 that which provides them, at once, with nutri- 

 ment, litter, and fhelter, in the moft perfeâ: fuit- 

 ablenefs to their fituation. Thus the goldfinch 

 affeds the thiflle, and hence, in the French lan- 

 guage, derives his name from that of the plant*, 

 becaufe he finds a rampart in it's prickly leaves, 

 food in it's feeds, and materials for his nefh in it's 

 down. The bird-fly of Florida, for fimilar reafons, 

 prefers the bignonia : this is a creeping plant, 

 which finds it's way to the tops of the higheft 

 trees, and frequently covers the whole trunk. He 

 builds his neft in one of it's leaves, which he rolls 

 into the form of a cornet ; he finds his food in it's 

 red flowers, refembling thofe of the foxglove, the 

 neétareous glands of which he licks ; he plunges 

 his little body into them, which appears in the 

 heart of the flower, like an emerald fet in coral ^ 

 and he gets in, fometimes, fo far, that he fuflers 

 himfelf to be furprized there, and caught. 



In the nefts of animals, then, we fliall look for 

 their charafler, as we fought that of plants in their 

 grains. It is from thefe we fhall be enabled to de- 

 termine the Element in which they mull live, the 

 proper fite of their habitation, the aliment bed 

 adapted to their conftitution, and the firfl: leflTons 



* In French, goldfinch is chardonneret, and thiftlc chardon. 



of 



