310 OBSERVATIONS ON BIRDS. 



The earnest and early propensity of the gallince to roost 

 on high is very observable ; * and discovers a strong dread 

 impressed on their spirits respecting vermin that may annoy 

 them on the ground during the hours of darkness. Hence 

 poultry, if left to themselves and not housed, will perch the 

 winter through on yew trees and fir trees ; and turkeys and 

 guinea fowls, heavy as they are, get up into apple trees ; 

 pheasants also, in woods, sleep on trees to avoid foxes ; 

 while pea-fowls climb to the tops of the highest trees round 

 their owner's house for security, let the weather be ever so 

 cold or blowing. Partridges, it is true, roost on the ground, 

 not having the faculty of perching ; but then the same fear 

 prevails in their minds ; for, through apprehensions from 

 polecats and stoats, they never trust themselves to coverts, 

 but nestle together in the midst of large fields, far removed 

 from hedges and coppices, which they love to haunt in the 

 day, and where, at that season, they can skulk more secure 

 from the ravages of rapacious birds. 



As to ducks and geese, their awkward, splay, web-feet 

 forbid them to settle on trees ;t they therefore, in the hours 

 of darkness and danger, betake themselves to their own 

 element, the water, where, amidst large lakes and pools, like 

 ships riding at anchor, they float the whole night long in 

 peace and security. WHITE. 



Guinea fowls not only roost on high, but in hard 

 weather resort, even in the day-time, to the very tops of 

 highest trees. J 



* Fowls that roost in trees are mu^h later in laying their eggs than those 

 which have been housed and kept warm. Fowls belonging to London bakers, 

 and which roost over their ovens, are very early layers. Warmth, there- 

 fore, seems to be necessary to the early production of eggs, and it might be 

 worth inquiry whether those birds which are most exposed to cold do not 

 begin the process of incubation at a later period than those birds which affect 

 warmth. Pigeons are early breeders, and they are warmly housed. ED. 



f* The Cape geese in Richmond Park not only settle on trees, but make 

 their nests in the old oak pollards, and convey their young in safety to the 

 ground by placing one at a time under one of their wings. When these geese 

 made their nests on the ground of the island in the large pond in the park, 

 the water-rats destroyed the eggs, which induced the birds to take to the trees 

 near the side of the pond. ED. 



J This, probably, is the reason why they lay their eggs so much later in 



