^08 A HISTORY OF 



M' birds are so ingenious, so active, or so well fitted for society. Could 

 we suppose a kind of morality among birds, we should find that these 

 are by far the most industrious, the most faithful, the most constant, 

 and the most connubial. The rapacious kinds drive out their young 

 before they are fit to struggle with adversity ; but the pie kind cherish 

 their young to the last. The poultry class are faithless ana promis- 

 cuous in their courtship ; but these live in pairs, and their attachments 

 are wholly confined to each other. The sparrow kind frequently 

 overleap the bounds of Nature, and make illicit varieties ; but these 

 never. They live in harmony with each other ; every species is true 

 to its kind, and transmits an unpolluted race to posterity. 



As other kinds build in rocks or upon the ground, the chief place 

 where these build is in trees or bushes ; the male takes his share of 

 the labours of building the nest; and often relieves his mate in the 

 duties of incubation. Both take this office by turns ; and when the 

 young are excluded, both are equally active in making them an ample 

 provision. 



They sometimes live in societies, and in these there are general 

 laws observed, and a kind of republican form of government establish- 

 ed among them. They watch not only for the general safety, but 

 for that of every other bird of the grove. How often have we seen 

 a fowler stealing in upon a flock of ducks, or wild geese, disturbed by 

 the alarming note of a crow or a magpie : its single voice gave the 

 whole thoughtless tribe warning, and taught them in good time to look 

 to their safety. 



Nor are these birds less remarkable for their instincts than their 

 capacity for instruction. There is an apparent cunning or archness 

 in the look of the whole tribe ; and I have seen crows and ravens 

 taught to fetch and carry with the docility of a spaniel. Indeed, it 

 is often an exercise that, without teaching, all this tribe are but too 

 fond of. Every body knows what a passion they have for shining sub- 

 stances, and such toys as some of us put a value upon. A whole fa- 

 mily has been alarmed at the loss of a ring ; every servant has been 

 accused, and every creature in the house, conscious of their own in- 

 nocence, suspected each other, when to the utter surprise of all, it 

 has been found in the nest of a tame magpie or a jackdaw, that no- 

 body had ever thought of. 



However, as this class is very numerous, it is not to be supposed 

 that the manners are alike in all. Some, such as the pigeon, are 

 gentle and serviceable to man ; others are noxious, capricious, and 

 noisy. In a few general characters they all agree ; namely, in hav- 

 ing hoarse voices, slight active bodies, and a facility of flight that 

 baffles even the boldest of the rapacious kinds in the pursuit." I will 

 begin with those birds which most properly may be said to belong to 

 this class, and go on till I finish with the pigeon, a harmless bird, 

 that resembles this tribe in little else except their size, and that seems 

 to be the shade uniting the pie and the sparrow kind into one gene- 

 ral picture. 



It is not to be expected that in this sketch of the great magazine 

 f Nature, we can stop singly to contemplate every object. To de- 

 scribe the number that offers would be tedious, and the similitude 

 that one bears to another would make the history disgusting. Asa 



