PROTECTIVE INSTINCT OF BIRDS, 



are striking instances of this peculiar form of instinct. 

 Their colours so harmonise with those of the arid waste 

 on which they live, that when the birds are sitting- upon 

 their eggs discover)^ is almost impossible. The Red 

 Grouse, when sitting, so closely resembles the moorland 

 vegetation around, that the finding of her treasure is due 

 more to accident than design ; and well does the parent 

 bird know in what direction safety lies, and unerringly 

 does she adhere to it. The Terns and most shore birds, 

 impelled by the same protective instinct, deposit their eggs 

 only upon those portions of the beach which display the 

 same tints as they do. In this manner numerous in- 

 stances might be brought forth as examples, but the 

 remarks upon this somewhat lengthy subject must of 

 necessity be brief. We will now, therefore, glance at the 

 next division. 



Mimiay. — This peculiar form of instinct is closely 

 allied to the preceding one, and if it were not for a few 

 incidents peculiar only to this division, it would be dif- 

 ficult to distinguish more than a slight difference between 

 them. One of the first birds gifted with this instinct is 

 the gay little Chaffinch. Observe how closely she imi- 

 tates the surroundings in the structure of her nest, how 

 beautifully it is silvered over with lichen, if on the rugged 

 branch of a tree covered with similar material. If in the 

 centre of a glossy evergreen, lichens are discarded, and 

 bright shining green moss substituted in their place. If 

 in the centre of a hawthorn, bedecked with fair and 

 beautiful flowers, protective instinct impels her to gild 

 her handiwork with small scraps of paper, so that, to a 

 casual eye, the whole structure, imitating as it does the 

 flowers around, appears a tangled mass of bloom. How 

 artfully does the Water Ouzel imitate the colour of 

 surrounding objects her nest being invariably placed 



