312 THE HARMONIES OF NATURE. 



young of the cuckoo miss a parent's fostering care, nothing 

 has been left undone that might lead to their benefit. 



When a breeding bird is attacked by an enemy, it exhibits 

 either a brilliant heroism or an admirable courage. In de- 

 fending their young, the large birds of prey display the same 

 fury which agitates the wild beasts of the forest when menaced 

 in their tenderest affections, and it is scarcely less danger- 

 ous to rob the lammergeier of its young than to deprive the 

 tigress of her cubs ; for though this magnificent bird will never 

 attack man when unprovoked, yet there are numerous in- 

 stances on record where he has boldly engaged in mortal combat 

 with the despoiler of his nest. Of these I shall cite but one, 

 mentioned by Tschudi in his work on the Animal Life of the 

 Alps. 



Joseph Scherrer, a famous chamois-hunter, once climbed 

 barefoot up a rock, with his fowlingpiece slung over his 

 shoulder, to plunder a lammergeier 's nest. Before he reached 

 the roost, the male bird attacked him and was shot. Scherrer 

 reloaded his gun a,nd continued to ascend. But now the 

 female bird rushed upon him with inconceivable rage, buried 

 her talons in his thighs, and endeavoured to hurl him down the 

 precipice, wounding him at the same time with her sharp beak. 

 His situation was most critical, for he required all his strength 

 to keep his ground and to ward off the infuriated bird. His 

 uncommon presence of mind saved him, however, from what 

 seemed inevitable destruction. With one hand he directed the 

 barrel of his gun upon the bird, and pulling the trigger with 

 his naked toe, lodged a fatal bullet in its breast. 



The adjoined facsimile of a print of the celebrated Eidinger, 

 representing a large chamois hurled from a rock by a lammer- 

 geier, gives us an idea of the Alpine bird's strength, and shows 

 how truly formidable he must be, even to the most vigorous and 

 expert huntsman, when agitated by parental rage. 



Yet not only the powerful raptorial birds, but even the weakest 

 of the class become inspired with a lionlike courage when the 

 safety of their progeny is at stake. On the approach of an 

 intrusive bird, though ten times bigger than himself, the male 

 colibri will not hesitate a moment to attack the disturber of his 

 rest; his bravery adds a tenfold increase to his powers, the 

 rapidity of his movements confounds his enemy, and finally 



