166 INSTINCT MODIFIED 



motest solitudes^ are secluded from that notice which 

 is requisite to ascertain the degi-ees of intelhgence be- 

 stowed upon them. But, from what is known, it ap- 

 pears that the superior orders of quadrupeds, and es- 

 pecially those that associate with man, are the most 

 sagacious. Birds also enjoy this privilege very highly, 

 when the protection of their young is concerned. Mr. 

 Galton, in his very entertaining work on birds, re- 

 marks, that blackbirds generally build low in bushes, 

 or in trees that are not very high ; and he mentions 

 an instance of a bird of this species, after ha\dng built 

 its nest twice near the bottom of a hedge, and both 

 hatches of its young falling a prey to cats, the third 

 time she placed it in an apple-tree, eight feet from the 

 ground. To what can this be attributed, but to the 

 effects of experience and design? Mere instinct 

 teaches finches that build in gi'een hedges, to cover 

 their habitations with green moss ; the swallow, or 

 martin, that builds against rocks or houses, to cover 

 hers with clay; and the lark, to collect vegetable 

 straw for the same purpose, as approaching to the co- 

 lour of stubble, amongst which she builds. But should 

 either of these birds change the colour of the material 

 of their nests on account of a different situation, I 

 should attribute that alteration to a higher principle, 

 by varying the mode of compliance with the instincts 

 of nature in assimilating the colour of birds' nests to 



