164 EARLY AWAKENING OF BIRDS. 



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 under- 

 stood, 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 crea- 

 tures appeared abroad at very different periods as the 

 light advanced. The rook is perhaps the first to salute 

 the opening morn ; but this bird seems rather to rest 

 than to sleep. Always vigilant, the least alarm after re- 

 tirement rouses instantly the whole assemblage, not 

 successively, but collectively. It is appointed to be a 

 ready mover. Its principal food is worms, which feed 

 and crawl upon the humid surface of the ground in the 

 dusk, and retire before the light of day ; and, roosting 

 higher than other birds, the first rays of the sun, as 

 they peep from the horizon, become visible to it. The 

 restless, inquisitive robin* now is seen too. This is the 

 last bird that retires in the evening, being frequently 

 flitting about when the owl and bat are visible, and 

 awakes so soon in the morning, that little rest seems 

 required by it. Its fine large eyes are fitted to receive 

 all, even the weakest rays of light that appear. The 

 worm is its food too, and few that move upon the surface 

 escape its notice. The cheerful melody of the wren is 

 the next we hear, as it bustles from its ivied roost ; and 

 we note its gratulation to the young-eye.d day, when 

 twilight almost hides the little minstrel from our sight. 

 The sparrow roosts in holes, and under the eaves of the 

 rick or shed, where the light does not so soon enter, and 



may call the instincts of animals those unknown faculties implanted 

 in their constitutions by the Creator, by which, independent of in- 

 struction, observation, or experience, and without a knowledge of the 

 end in view, they are impelled to the performance of certain actions 

 tending to the well-being of the individual, and preservation of the 

 apecies." 



* See note W, appendix. 



