2ie NATURAL THEOLOay. 



part of so many nurses, deputed by the Sovereign Lord and 

 Preserver of the world to help such young and shiftless crea- 

 tures !" Neither ought it, under this head, to be forgotten, 

 how much the instinct costs the animal which feels it ; how 

 much a bird, for example, gives up by sitting upon her nest ; 

 how repugnant it is to her organization, her habits, and he? 

 pleasures. An animal, formed for liberty, submits to con- 

 finement in the very season when every thing invites her 

 abroad : what is more, an animal delighting in motion, 

 made for motion, all whose motions are so easy, and so free, 

 hardly a moment, at other times, at rest, is, for many hours 

 of many days together, fixed to her nest as close as if her 

 limbs were tied down by pins and wires. For my part, 1 

 never see a bird in that situation but I recognize an invisi- 

 ble hand detaining the contented prisoner from her fields and 

 groves, for the purpose, as the event proves, the most worthy 

 of the sacrifice, the most important, the most beneficial. 



But the loss of hberty is not the whole of what the 

 procreant bird suffers. Harvey tells us that he has often 

 found the female wasted to skin and bone by sitting upon 

 her eggs. 



CO 



One observation more, and I will dismiss the subject. 

 The 2J<^in'r^g of birds, and the non-2')airi7ig of beasts, forms 

 a distinction between the two classes, which shows that the 

 conjugal instinct is modified with a reference to utility found- 

 ed on the condition of the offspring. In quadrupeds, the 

 young animal draws its nutriment from the body of the dam. 

 The male parent neither does, nor can contribute any part 

 to its sustentation. In the winged race, the young bird is 

 supplied by an importation of food, to procure and bring 

 home which, in a sufficient quantity for the demand of a 

 numerous brood, requires the industry of both parents. In 

 this difference, we see a reason for the vagrant instinct of 

 the quadruped, and for the faithful love of the feathered 

 mate 



