RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



PAIRING INSTINCT OF BIRDS. 



COURTEOUS READER, before noticing the haunts and 

 economy of any particular bird, it may not be out of 

 place to give thee a short collective account of their 

 pairing instincts, the many and varied arts birds dis- 

 play for the safety of their eggs or young, and also a 

 few remarks on the habits of birds in general. 



The pairing instinct of birds has always been a sub- 

 ject of much dispute amongst naturalists, and indeed 

 one of a very perplexing nature. I have found it to be 

 a subject which few writers on ornithology treat with a 

 proper amount of care, while others refrain entirely from 

 introducing it into their works. I consider it to be one 

 of the most important traits in the character of the 

 feathered tribes an amount of instinct given alike to 

 the lordly Eagle and the diminutive Wren, and that, 

 no matter under which particular division it may come, 

 harmonises with, and is essential to, the habits and 

 requirements of the birds practising it. 



Birds may be divided into three classes ; viz., firstly, 

 those birds which, having once paired, remain together 

 for life ; secondly, birds which pair annually ; and thirdly, 

 birds which never pair, but are polygamous. The young 



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