iq6 Of the fascinating FACULTY 



proaches fo near the reptile that he leizes her as his prey. 

 But this is far from being univerfally the caie. Often, 

 ihe compels the ferpent to leave the tree, and then returns 

 to her neft*. 



It is a well known fad:, that among fome fpecies of 

 birds, the female, at a certain period, is accuflomed to 

 compel the young ones to leave the neft ; that is, when 

 the young have acquired fo much ftrength that they are 

 no longer entitled to a/i her care. But they ftill claim 

 fome of her care. Their flights are awkward, and foon 

 broken by fatigue. They fall to the ground, where they 

 are frequently expofed to the attacks of the ferpent, 

 which attempts to devour them. In this fituation of 

 affairs, the mother will place herfelf upon a branch of a 

 tree, or bufh, in the vicinity of the ferpent. She will 

 dart upon the ferpent, in order to prevent the deftru£tion 

 of her young : but fear, the inftindt of felf-prefervation, 

 will compel her to retire. She leaves the ferpent, how- 

 ever, but for a fhort time, and then returns again. Often- 

 times, fhe prevents the deflrudtion of her young, attack- 

 ing the fnake, with her wing, her beak, or her claws. 

 Should the reptile fucceed in capturing the young, the 

 mother is expofed to lefs danger. For, whilft engaged 

 in fwallowing them, he has neither inclination nor pow- 

 er to feize upon the old one. But the appetite of the 

 ferpent-tribe is great : the capacity of their ftomachs is 

 not lefs fo. The danger of the mother is at hand, when 



* Horace, though he has not, like his contemporary, Virgil, given any 

 j^reat proofs of his knowledge in natural hiilory, appears to have knovpn, 

 full well, the anxiety of birds for the prefervaiion of their young : 



" Ut afTidens implumibus pullis avis 

 " Serpentium allapfus timet." 



Epod. I. 



The author of thefe two fine lines, had he lived in America, the land of 

 fafcination, would, I am inclined to think, have difbelieved the whole 

 flory. They would have been a clue to light and truth on this fubjeft. 



the 



