CHAPTER NINE ANIMAL INSTINCT 



posed of mud and clay of exactly the same colour as the 

 rock itself* 



In fine, though some birds build a more simple and ex- 

 posed nest than others, there are very few who do not take 

 some precaution for its safety, or whose eggs and young do 

 not resemble in colour the substances by which they are 

 surrounded. The care of the common rabbit, in concealing 

 and smoothing over the entrance of the hole where her 

 young are deposited, is very remarkable, and doubtless 

 saves them from the attacks of almost all their enemies, 

 with the exception of the wily fox, whose fine scent enables 

 him to discover their exact situation, and who in digfsfine 

 them out, instead of following the hole in his excavations, 

 discovers the exact spot under which they are, and then 

 digs down directly on them, thus saving himself a great 

 deal of labour. 



The fox chooses the most unlikely places and holes to 

 produce her young cubs in; generally in some deep and in- 

 accessible earth, where no digging can get at them, owing 

 to the intervention of rocks or roots of trees. I once, how- 

 ever, two years ago, found three young foxes about two 

 days old,laid in a comfortable nest in some long heather, in- 

 stead of the usual subterraneous situation which the old 

 one generally makes choice of. Deer and roe fix upon the 

 most lonely parts of the mountain or forest for the habita- 

 tion of their fawns, before they have strength to follow their 



* St John here lends himself to the popular custom whereby the swallow {Hiriindo 

 ruslka), the swift (Miaopiis apus), and the house-martin ( Chelidon ttrbica) are spoken 

 ofcollectively as "swallows." These belong, of course, to widely separated orders. The 

 species referred to above is no doubt the house-martin, which frequently nests on sea- 

 clifis.— Ed. 



