170 



CASE OF A NEST REPAIRED. 



of Supreme Intelligence is our ignorance made 

 manifest ! Even the fabrication of the nests 

 of these little animals exceeds our comprehension 

 we know none of the causes or motives of that 

 unbodied mind that willed them thus. 



One notice more of the parus tribe (the parus 

 .caruleus), and these little creatures may retire to 

 their leafy shades and be forgotten. I was lately 

 exceedingly pleased in witnessing the maternal care 

 and intelligence of this bird ; for the poor thing had 

 its young ones in the hole of a wall, and the nest 

 had been nearly all drawn out of the crevice by the 

 paw of a cat, and part of its brood devoured. In 

 revisiting its family, the bird discovered a portion 

 of it remaining, though wrapped up and hidden in 

 the tangled moss and feathers of their bed, and it 

 then drew the whole of the nest back into the place 

 from whence it had been taken, unrolled and re- 

 observance of its sufferings obtains more of our pity, than the house 

 marten. The rook will at times have its nest torn from its airy 

 site, or have its eggs shaken from it by the gales of spring ; but 

 the poor marten, which places its earthy shed beneath ihe eave of 

 the barn, the roof of the house, or in the corner of the window, is 

 more generally injured. July and August are the months in which 

 these birds usually bring out their young ; but one rainy day at this 

 period, attended with wind, will often moisten the earth that com- 

 poses the nest, the cement then fails, and all the unfledged young 

 ones are dashed upon the ground ; and there are some places to 

 which these poor birds are unfortunately partial, though their nests 

 are annually washed down. The projecting thatch of the old farm- 

 house appears to be their safest asylum. The parent birds at times 

 seem aware of the misfortune that awaits them ; as, before the cala- 

 mity is completed, we may observe them with great anxiety hovering 

 about their nests. 



