THE SITUATION. 39 



very night there came down a tremendous fall of 

 rain, which flooded all the malt and hops, and did 

 great damage. Man made no preparation, the 

 bird did. Instinct prevailed over reason: her 

 eggs were above, and only just above, the water." 

 Not to extend this part of our subject to a 

 greater length, it will be here sufficiently evident 

 that nothing can be more varied than the situation 

 in which the nests of birds are placed. Just as 

 the habits of various kinds of the feathered tribes 

 differ from each other, as some seek and obtain 

 their food in the depths of the forest, others on 

 the desolate sea-shore, as some fly with not 

 easily accountable instinct to the society of man, 

 while others timidly shrink from his presence ; so 

 the spot where their young are to be brought out 

 will vary almost infinitely. In the sketch here 

 presented, the more interesting and important of 

 the facts connected with the situation of the nests 

 of birds have been detailed ; but a short residence 

 in the country, with a mind zealous and earnest in the 

 pursuit of the home marvels of nature, will present 

 the reader with a store of facts upon the same sub- 

 ject, more interesting because more freshly savour- 

 ing of the indescribable charm of country life. 



