PROTECTIVE INSTINCT OF BIRDS. 



PROTECTIVE INSTINCT OF BIRDS. 



Safety depends on vigilance. 



A PERSON frequently in the haunts of the feathered 

 tribes during the nesting season, will not fail to observe the 

 numerous artifices these creatures practise for the safety 

 of their nests, eggs, or young ; and though these little 

 artifices are often of a varied nature, yet but one end is 

 in view, and that the preservation of their treasure. But, 

 it is naturally asked, What is the cause of these peculiar 

 motions, and what prompts the birds to practise them ? 

 Instinct, not imitation, explains fully the cause, and 

 instinct again explains the prompting power. If imita- 

 tion were the theory on which they worked, all birds 

 would practise these powers in the same manner as their 

 parents did before them. But this is not -so, for many, 

 if not all birds, at some period of their existence, are 

 called upon to exert their powers in a manner befitting 

 and harmonising with surrounding circumstances. Can 

 we, therefore^ explain this power by anything save a 

 protective instinct ? an instinct which is as infallible as 

 the great and mighty Power which causes the creature to 

 manifest it. I would here, gentle reader, have thee to 

 understand that none of the varied protective arts dis- 

 played by birds in guarding their eggs or young are due 

 to forethought. To credit the bird with this power would 

 be to endow it with reason at once a power found in 



