NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 161 



LETTER XIV. 



SELBORNE, March 26t/t, 1773. 



DEAR SIR, The more I reflect on the 0-1-0/3777 of animals, the 

 more I am astonished at its effects. Nor is the violence of this 

 affection more wonderful than the shortness of its duration. 

 Thus every hen is in her turn the virago of the yard, in proportion 

 to the helplessness of her brood ; and will fly in the face of a dog 

 or a sow in defence of those chickens, which in a few weeks she 

 will drive before her with relentless cruelty. 



This affection sublimes the passions, quickens the invention, 

 and sharpens the sagacity of the brute creation. Thus a hen, 

 just become a mother, is no longer that placid bird she used to be, 

 but with feathers standing on end, wings hovering, and clocking 

 note, she runs about like one possessed. Dams will throw them- 

 selves in the way of the greatest danger in order to avert it from 

 their progeny. Thus a partridge will tumble along before a 

 sportsman in order to draw away the dogs from her helpless 

 covey. In the time of nidification the most feeble birds will 

 assault the most rapacious. All the hirundines of a village are up 

 in arms at the sight of a hawk, whom they will persecute till he 

 leaves that district. A very exact observer has often remarked 

 that a pair of ravens nesting in the rock of Gibraltar would suffer 

 no vulture or eagle to rest near their station, but would drive them 

 from the hill with an amazing fury ; even the blue thrush at the 

 season of breeding would dart out from the clefts of the rocks to 

 chase away the kestril, or the sparrow-hawk. 1 If you stand near 

 \he nest of a bird that has young, she will not be induced to 

 betray them by an inadvertent fondness, but will wait about at a 

 distance with meat in her mouth for an hour together. 



Should I farther corroborate what I have advanced above by 

 some anecdotes which I probably may have mentioned before in 

 conversation, yet you will, I trust, pardon the repetition for the 

 sake of the illustration. 



The fly-catcher cf the "Zoology" (the Stoparola of Ray), builds 



