BIRDS IN GENERAL. 1 



and corn, and that are too often unwelcome in- 

 truders upon the fruits of human industry, in 

 making their nests use every precaution to con- 

 ceal them from man. On the other hand, the 

 great birds, remote from human society, use every 

 precaution to render theirs inaccessible to wild 

 beasts or vermin. 



Nothing can exceed the patience of birds 

 while hatching ; neither the calls of hunger, nor 

 the near approach of danger, can drive them from 

 the nest. They are often fat upon beginning to 

 sit, yet before incubation is over the female is 

 usually wasted to skin and bone. Ravens and 

 crows, while the females are sitting, take care to 

 provide them with food, and this in great abund- 

 ance. But it is different with most of the smaller 

 kinds : during the whole time, the male sits near 

 his mate upon some tree, and soothes her by his 

 singing ; and often when she is tired takes her 

 place, and patiently continues upon the nest till 

 she returns. Sometimes, however, the eggs ac- 

 quire a degree of heat too much for the purposes 

 of hatching ; in such cases the hen leaves them 

 to cool a little, and then returns to sit with her 

 usual perseverance and pleasure, 



So great is the power of instinct in animals of 

 this class, that they seem driven from one appe- 

 tite to another, and continue almost passive under 

 its influence. Reason we cannot call it, since 

 the first dictates of that principle would be self- 

 preservation : " Take a brute," says Addison, 

 " out of his instinct, and you find him wholly de- 

 prived of understanding. With what caution,' 



