BIRDS IN GENERAL. 



455 



in this respect, as thoir bodies are capable 

 of being; applied to the sin ill number upon 

 which thpy sit. With regard to climate, 

 water-fowl, that with us make but a very slo- 

 V'lly nest, are much more exact in this par- 

 ticular in the colder regions of the north. 

 Tiif-y there take every precaution to make 

 it warm; and some kinds strip the down 

 from their breasts, to line it with greater 

 security. 



In general, however, every bird resorts to 

 hatch in those climates and places where its 

 fuo.l is found in greatest plenty; and always 

 at that season when provisions are in the 

 greatest abundance. The large birds, and 

 those of the aquatic kinds, choose places as 

 remote from man as possible, as their food is 

 in general different from that which is culti- 

 vated by human labour. Some birds, which 

 have only the serpent to fear, build their 

 nests depending from the end of a small bough, 

 and form the entrance from below; being 

 thus secured either from the serpent or the 

 monkey tribes. But all the little birds which 

 live upon fruits and corn, and that are too 

 often unwelcome intruders upon the fruits of 

 human industry, in making their nests, use 

 every precaution to conceal them from man. 

 On the other hand, the great birds remote 

 from human society, use every precaution to 

 render theirs inaccessible to wild beasts or 

 vermin. 



Nothing can exceed the pntience of birds 

 while hatching; neither the calls of hunger,- 

 nor the near approach of danger, can drive 

 them from the nest. They are often fat upon 

 beginning to sit, yet before incubation is over 

 the female is usually wasted to skin and bone. 

 Ravens and crows, while the females are sit- 

 ting, take care to provide them with food; 

 and-this in great abundance. But it isdiffe - 

 enl with most of the smaller kinds-: during 

 the whole time, the male sits near his mate 

 upon some tree, and soothes her by his sing- 

 ing; and often when she is tired takes her 

 .place, and patiently continues upon the nest 

 till she returns. Sometimes, however, the 

 eggs acquire a degree of heat too much for 

 the purposes of hatching; in such cases, the 

 hen leaves them to cool a little, and then re- 

 trrns to sit with her usual perseverance and 

 pleasure. 



So great is the power of instinct in ani- 

 mals of this class, that they seem driven from 

 one appetite to another, and continue almost 

 passive under its influence. Reason we can- 

 not call it, since the first dictates of that prin- 

 ciple would be self-preservation: "Take a 

 brute." says Addison, "out of his instinct, and 

 you find him wholly deprived of under- 

 standing. With what caution," continues h>, 

 " does the hen provide herself a nest in pla- 

 ces unfrequented, and free from noise and 

 disturbance! When she has laid her eggs in 

 such a manner that she can cover them, what 

 care does she take in turning them frequent- 

 ly, that all parts may partake of the vital 

 warmth! When she leaves them, to provide 

 for her necessary sustenance, how punctually 

 does she return before they have time to cool, 

 and become incapable of producing an ani- 

 mal! In the summer you see her giving her- 

 self greater freedoms, and quitting her care 

 for above two hours together: but in winter, 

 when the rigour of the season would chill 

 the principles of life, and destroy the young 

 one, she grows more assiduous in her attend- 

 ance, and stays away but half the time. 

 When the birth approaches, with how much 

 nicety and attention does she help the chick 

 to break the prison! not to h'ke notice of 

 her covering it from the injuries of the wea- 

 ther, providing it with proper nourishment, 

 am! teaching it to help itself; nor to mention 

 her forsaking the nest, if, after the usual time 

 of reckoning, the young one does not make 

 its appearance. A chymical operation could 

 not be followed with greater art or diligence 

 than is f-een in the hatching a chick, though 

 there are many birds thai show an infinitely 

 greater sagacity: yet at the same time the 

 hen, that has all this seeming ingenuity, 

 (which is indeed absolutely necessary for 

 the propagation of the species,) considered 

 in other respects, is without the least glim- 

 merings of thought or common sense: she 

 mistakes a piece of chalk for an egg, and sits 

 upon it in the same manner; she is insensible 

 of any increase or diminution in the number 

 of those she lays; she does not distinguish 

 between her own, and those of another spe- 

 cies; and when the birth appears of never 

 so different a bird, will cherish it for her 

 own. A hen, followed by a brood of ducks, 



