NATURAL HISTORY. 



301 



" Enjoy the spring of love and youth, 



To some good ang-ol leave the rest; 

 For time will teach thee soon the truth, 



There are no birds in last rear's nest." LONGFELLOW. 



a longer time away from their nests, while the latter birds are 

 those which procure their food more readily. 



966. Thus we see the duck, and many aquatic birds, which have a voracious 

 appetite, and have often to go over a considerable space of ground in search of food, 

 and arc consequently a long time absent from their nest, cover up their eggs 

 with a quantity of down and feathers, in order to prevent them from being 

 chilled. 



In like manner, the long-tailed 

 titmouse, who, having from twelve 

 to fifteen young ones to provide 

 for, must necessarily be a long 

 time away from them in search of 

 food, so that she cannot herself 

 impart the necessary warmth to 

 her irood by sitting on them, as 

 most birds do, not only lines her 

 nest with a profusion of the softest 

 feathers and down, but makes it 

 almost in the shape of a ball, with 



a sma11 bole m the side to enter at 



so that the young are effectually 

 protected from cold in their snug 

 abode. 



The thrush, on the contrary, who can so readily procure worms on a lawn, or in 

 a meadow, so that it is not necessary for both the parent birds to be absent in search 

 of food at the same time, lines its nest with clay. The nest &f the rook, also, which, 

 in an exposed situation, has but little warmth of lining in it; but then the hen 

 seldom leaves it, and is fed during the period of incubation by the male bird. 



967. Why will birds sometimes hesitate in their flight, when 

 upon carrying building materials to their nest, they we 

 observed ? 



Because they are cautious not to betray the locality of their 

 nests, the knowledge of which might subject them to 

 future depredations. 



968. Mr. Broderip relates the following incident illustrative of this caution : 

 " As I was one day passing the National Gallery, I saw a sparrow fly down to 

 the neighbouring cab-stand and pick up a very long straw, with which it flew -nth 

 some labour towards the building. The long streaming straw attracted the 

 atu-ittion of some of the pedestrians, who stopped and looked at the loaded little 



