346 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



attention to the young continues long after they 

 leave the nest. The great exertion to collect food 

 for so many must exhaust the animal spirits, to 

 recruit which is a work of time ; so that the season 

 is too far advanced for a second production." This 

 opinion, however, is contradicted by facts ; and it 

 appears to be placed beyond question that many 

 birds produce two broods or more in a season 

 without the necessary interference of an accident 

 to account for it such, in fact, appears to be a law 

 of their nature. The second brood is commonly 

 fewer than the first ; and the third, when there is 

 a third, is fewer in number than the second. The 

 proof that one of the birds named by Montagu 

 actually produces more than one brood in the 

 season, is contained in the following very pretty 

 account of the proceedings of a pair of these birds 

 quoted from the Field Naturalist's Magazine. 



" A pair of robins chose for their abode a small 

 cottage which, though not actually inhabited, was 

 constantly used as a depository for potatoes, har- 

 ness, &c. and repeatedly visited by its owners. It 

 closely adjoined a large blacksmith's shop ; but 

 neither the noise of the adjacent forge, nor the 

 frequent visits of the owners of the cottage, 



