EARLY AWAKENING OF BIRDS. 233 



things, had not the bird betrayed her secret, and 

 darted out. Now from what operative cause did 

 this stratagem proceed ? Habit it was not ; it 

 seemed like an after-thought; danger was per- 

 ceived, and the contrivance which a contemplative 

 being would have provided was resorted to. The 

 limits of instinct we cannot define * : it appeared 

 the reflection of reason. This procedure may be 

 judged, perhaps, a trifling event to notice; but 

 the ways and motives of creatures are so little 

 understood, that any evidence which may assist 

 our research should not be rejected. Call their 

 actions as we may, they have the effect of reason ; 

 and loving all the manners and operations of these 

 directed beings, I have noted this, simple as it 

 may be. 



At one period of my life, being an early waker 

 and riser, my attention was frequently drawn " to 

 songs of earliest birds ;" and I always observed 

 that these creatures appeared abroad at very dif- 

 ferent periods as the light advanced. The rook is, 



* I know not any definition of what we term " animal instinct" 

 more comprehensive and accordant with truth than the following, 

 given in the " Elements of Entomology/' by Messrs. Kirby and 

 Spence. " Without pretending to give a logical definition of it 

 (instinct), which, while we are ignorant of the essence of reason, is 

 impossible, we may call the instincts of animals those unknown 

 faculties implanted in their constitutions by the Creator, by which, 

 independent of instruction, observation, or experience, and without 

 a knowledge of the end in view, they are impelled to the perform- 

 ance of certain actions tending to the well-being of the individual, 

 and preservation of the species," 



