CH. XXXI. INSTINCT OF BIRDS. 181 



the same. The larger size of red-deer obliges 

 them to depend rather on the inaccessibility of 

 their resting-places than on any attempt at conceal- 

 ment ; and the roebuck's safety is in the denseness 

 and roughness of the wood in which it lies. 



There is some powerful instinct, also, which 

 assists animals in finding their food ; and many 

 go direct from great distances to places where 

 they are sure of finding it. Pigeons find out 

 newly-sown peas and other favourite grains almost 

 immediately after they have been put into the 

 ground ; and will frequently fly several miles to a 

 field the very first morning after it is sown. Wild- 

 ducks, also, whose researches can only be made by 

 night, are equally quick in finding places where 

 there is plenty of any favourite food. The small 

 gulls, particularly the black-headed gull, discover 

 the ploughman before he has finished his first 

 furrow, and collect in great flocks to pick up every 

 grub or worm which he turns up. The rapid 

 instinct of birds who feed on carrion has been 

 alluded to already. In fact all birds, whatever 

 their food may be, have an instinctive power of 

 discovering it immediately, and that from such 

 great distances as to baffle all attempt at explana- 

 tion. In the mountainous districts of Sutherland- 

 shire and others of the northern counties, the 



