INTELLIGENCE OF BIRDS. ISI 
profound mystery a word has been invented which satisfies easy 
minds: thus, we call the sentiment which leads birds to perform 
many admirable actions which are related of them, zvst:nct. The 
tenderness of the mother for her young—a tenderness so full of 
delicacy and foresight—is, we say, only the result of zzstinct. It is 
agreed on all hands, however, that this instinct singularly resemb!es 
the intelligence called reason, and, in the opinion of many, is nothing 
else. ; 
Reproduction in birds occurs at intervals regulated by Nature, 
and they are distinguished above all other creatures for the fidelity of 
their affections. It is frequently observed when a male becomes so 
attached to a female, that they henceforth live together till separated 
by death ; and many affecting scenes are described of the grief of the 
survivor for the loss of his or her mate. When the breeding season 
approaches, the habits of the female are modified. She abandons 
her former freedom, and, having laid her eggs, she passes her whole 
time in incubation, defying hunger and other dangers, apparently 
well knowing that the equal and prolonged heat communicated from 
her body is necessary to hatch her eggs. During the period of 
incubation the male, in most instances, watches the female, and 
supplies her with food ; afterwards the little ones are waited on by 
both parents with the tenderest care until the young are sufficiently 
old to provide for themselves. 
The solicitude of birds for their young is first manifested in the 
choice of the locality for the nest, and in the care with which this 
cradle of their progeny is constructed. But all this disappears when 
the young no longer require the maternal protection. 
In spring, when the birds have paired, they commence at once 
to collect the materials necessary for their nest. Each carries its 
blade of grass or stem of moss; large birds contenting themselves 
with coarser materials—chips of wood, or branches of trees interlaced 
with twigs, lined with hair and other soft substances, are fashioned 
by them into the necessary shape. But the smaller species really 
display great art in framing their miniature dwelling, which they line 
inside with wool, blades of grass, or down—their effort is to make a 
soft, warm, and solid bed on which to deposit the coming eggs, the 
male and female labouring in the common work. ‘They have also 
recourse to all sorts of cunning devices in order to conceal their 
nest from prying eyes, choosing for this purpose the heart of a leafy 
bush, the forked limb, the concealed crack or hollow in the trunk of 
a tree, the chimneys of a house, crevices in a wall or under a roof. 
Curiously enough, the nests of the same species are fashioned in 
