221 



renous and insatiable. If she finds but a grain of 

 corn or a crum of bread, she -never touches it her- 

 self but calls her troop by a note they well under- 

 stand, and divides it among them. She is no longer 

 timorous, but at the head of her young, will spring 

 even at the stoutest dog. 



When the turkey .hen appears at the head of her 

 young, she sometimes utters a mournful cry, and 

 they immediately run under bushes, furz or what- 

 ever presents itself. She looks upward and repeats 

 her cry : which is occasioned by her seeing a bird of 

 prey, though so distant, that he appears unto us, only 

 as a dark point under the clouds. But he no sooner 

 disappears, than she utters another cry, which revives 

 all her brood. They run to her, flutter their wings, and 

 shew all the tokens of joy. Now, who apprizes her of 

 an enemy, that never yet committed any act of hosti- 

 lity in the country ? And how is she able to discover 

 him, when at so great a distance ? How are her fa- 

 mily instructed to understand her different cries, and 

 regulate their behaviour accordingly ? VVfiat wonders 

 are these which are daily obvious to our view, though 

 we treat them with inattention? 



An amazing degree of natural instinct, or under- 

 standing, God has imparted to birds of passage. They 

 fly in troops, often in the form of a wedge, with the 

 point foremost. They steer their course through un- 

 known regions, without either guide or compass. 

 And they are peculiarly accommodated for their flight 

 by the structure of their parts. 



In the act of migration, it is highly remarkable* 

 1. That they know, (as the scripture speaks) their 

 appointed times, when to come and when to g >. Ap- 

 pointed by whom ? Surely by the great Creator, who 

 has imprinted on their nature au inclination, atsuch.' 

 a time to fly from a place that woul 1 obstruct their 

 generation, or not afford food for them and theU 



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