spnjwlar JBtcttmtarj) of ^fntmatcXf 



69 



of requirements in these constructions among 

 the several associates of our groves, our 

 hedges and our houses ; and yet the sup- 

 position cannot be entertained for a moment 

 that they are superfluous, or not essential 

 for some purpose with which we are unac- 

 quainted. By how many of the ordinations 

 of Supreme Intelligence is our ignorance 

 made manifest ! Even the fabrication of the 

 nests of these little animals exceeds our com- 

 prehension we know none of the causes or 

 motives of that embodied mind that willed 

 them thus." 



The difference of climate sometimes oc- 

 casions vast alterations in the construction 

 of the nests of birds. Some water-fowl strip 

 the down from their own breasts, for the 

 purpose of lining their nests with greater 

 security. In general, however, all birds, 

 when hatching, resort to those climates and 

 places where their food is found in the great- 

 est plenty. Aquatic birds, as well as the 

 largest of the land kinds, select such situ- 

 ations as are most remote from man ; their 

 food, in general, being different from that 

 which is cultivated by human labour. Some 

 birds, which regard the serpent as their dead- 

 liest foe, build their nests depending from 

 small boughs, and form their entrances from 

 below ; thereby equally securing them from 

 the serpent and the monkey tribes : but small 

 birds, which feed upon fruits and corn, make 

 use of every precaution to conceal their 

 nests from man ; while the great birds, re- 

 mote from human society, employ every 

 art to render theirs inaccessible to wild 

 beasts and vermin. 



While the female is hatching, nothing 

 can exceed her patience ; neither the calls of 

 hunger, nor the near approach of danger, 

 being capable of driving her from her nest. 

 Though fat when she begins to sit, before 

 the time of incubation is expired she is 

 usually reduced to little more than skin and 

 bone. While the young continue in the 

 nest, the old ones provide them with a proper 

 supply of food; and, that no individual may 

 be overlooked, each is served in its turn. 

 If they perceive that man has been busy 

 with their nest, or has handled their little 

 ones, they abandon the place by night, and 

 provide their brood a more secure retreat. 

 When the whole family are fully plumed, 

 and capable of avoiding danger, they are 

 led forth in fine weather, and taught the art 

 not only of providing for their own sub- 

 sistence, by being conducted to those places 

 where their food is most likely to be found, 

 but of picking it up and carrying it away. 

 After the business of incubation is entirely 

 over, and the young are sufficiently able to 

 provide for themselves, the nests are aban- 

 doned by the parents, except by those of the 

 eagle kind. 



Most of the smaller birds are supported, 

 especially when young, by a profusion of 

 caterpillars, small worms, and insects ; on 

 these they feed, and thus they contribute to 

 preserve the vegetable world from destruc- 

 tion. This is contrary to the commonly- 

 received opinion, that birds, particularly 

 Sparrows, do much mischief in destroying the 

 labours of the gardener and the husband- 



man. It has been observed, " that a single 

 pair of Sparrows, during the time they are 

 feeding their young, will destroy about four 

 thousand caterpillars weekly; they likewise 

 feed their young with butterflies and other 

 winged insects, each of which, if not de- 

 stroyed in tliis manner, would be productive 

 of many thousands of caterpillars." Swal- 

 lows are almost continually upon the wing, 

 and in their curious winding flights destroy 

 immense numbers of flies and other insects, 

 hich are continually floating in the air, 

 and which, if not destroyed by these birds, 

 would render it unfit for the purposes of life 

 and health. That active little bird, the 

 Tom-tit, which is generally supposed hostile 

 to the young and tender buds that appear in 

 the spring, when attentively observed, may 

 be seen running up and down among the 

 branches, and picking up the eggs of insects, 

 or the small maggots or worms that are con- 

 cealed in the blossoms, and which would 

 effectually destroy the fruit. As the season 

 advances, various other small birds, such as 

 the Redbreast, Wren, Hedge-warbler, White- 

 throat, Redstart, &c., are all engaged in the 

 same useful work, and may be observed 

 examining every leaf, and feeding upon the 

 insects which they find beneath them. 

 These are a few instances of that superin- 

 tending providential care which is con- 

 tinually exerted in preserving the various 

 ranks and orders of beings in the scale of 

 Animated Nature ; and although it is per- 

 mitted that myriads of individuals should 

 every moment be destroyed, not a single 

 species is lost, but every link of the great 

 chain remains unbroken. 



The only disease, if it can be termed one, 

 to which birds are subject, is moulting, or 

 the operation of changing their plumage, 

 during the continuance of which they are 

 sickly and disordered, and many die. This 

 process, which occurs every year, appears to 

 be performed in the following manner : 

 When the feathers have attained their full 

 size, the quill part, nearest the bird, grows 

 harder, and shrinks in its diameter, thus 

 gradually compressing, and finally oblitera- 

 ting the vessels which supply it with nourish- 

 ment, and thus becomes an extraneous body 

 which is at last loosened in its socket, and 

 falls off. Whilst these changes are taking 

 place, the rudiments of the new feather are 

 forming beneath, which rapidly attains its 

 natural size, after it has been protruded 

 through the skin, a process which, it will be 

 seen, is very analogous to the annual shed- 

 ding of the horns in the deer tribe. 



Although some birds, by emigrating, make 

 their habitations in different parts of the 

 earth, almost every climate has such as are 

 peculiar to it. Those of the temperate zone 

 are not very remarkable for the beauty of 

 their plumage ; but the smaller kinds fully 

 compensate this defect by their melodious 

 notes. Many birds of the torrid zone are 

 resplendent in beauty, but in general they 

 have either harsh and disagreeable voices, 

 or are totally silent : the frigid zone, on the 

 contrary, where the adjacent seas abound 

 with fish, is stocked with birds of the aquatic 

 kind, in much greater plenty than in Eu- 



