304 



INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY. 



observcation reveals, he wakens into activity some of ovir purest 

 sympathies; nor can the natm-ahst present a pictm-e more- 

 faithful than that which is arrayed in the garb of verse : the 

 truth and the poetry are one. 



" Some sought their food among the finny shoals, 

 Swift darting from the clouds, emerging soon 

 With slender captives glittering in their beaks ; 

 These in recesses of steep crags constructed 

 Their eyries inaccessible, and trained 

 Their hardy brood to forage in all weathers. 

 Others, more gorgeously apparelled, dwelt 

 Among the woods, on Nature's dainties feeding — 

 Herbs, seeds, or roots ; or, ever on the wing, 

 Pursuing insects through the boundless air ; 

 In hollow trees or thickets these concealed 

 Their exquisitely woven nests, where lay 

 Their callow offspring, quiet as the down 

 On their own breasts, till from her search the dam 

 With laden bill returned, and shared the meal 

 Among her clamorous supplicants all agape ; 

 Then, cowering o'er them with expanded wings, 

 She felt how sweet it is to be a mother." 



Montgomery's "Pelican Island." 



2^ests. — We turn from the young bii'ds to those singular 

 habitations in Avhich they are hatched. The smallest amount 



, . ,_ of observation 



/^¥^ ' 



makes manifest 

 to every one, the 

 great diversity 

 of their situa- 

 tion, structure, 

 and materials. 

 As examples, 

 we may mention 

 thp exposed nest 

 of the Sky -lark, 

 built upon the 

 o-rouud, com- 

 pared with the 

 globular edifice 

 of the Wren, 

 constructed in 

 sheltered situa- 

 tions, and in- 

 geniously concealed from view ; or the neat and elaborately 



Fig. 251.— Nest of Goldfinch. 



