OF NATURAL HISTORY. 385 



their Toung. Birds of prey, like carnivorous qiiaJrupeds, 

 arc not fo prolific as the milder and more inofFeniive kind;,. 

 Moil: of them lay only a fmall number of eggs. The great 

 e?Me and the ofprey produce only two eggs in a feafon. The 

 pi':^eon, it may be faid, lays no more. But it ihould be con- 

 lidered that the pigeon produces two eggs three, four, or five 

 times, from fpring to autumn. All birds of prey exhibit an 

 obduracy and a ferocioufnefs of difpofition, while the other 

 kinds are mild, chearful, and gentle, in their afpe£l and man- 

 ners. Moll: birds of prey expel their offspring from the nell, 

 and relinquifh them to their fate, before they are fufliciently 

 able to provide for themfelves. This cruelty is the efiect of 

 perfonal want in the mother. When prey is fcanty, v/hich 

 often happens, (he m a manner ftarves herfelf to fupport her 

 young. But, when her hunger becomes exceflive, flie for- 

 gets her parental efFection, ftrikes, expels, and fometimes, 

 in a paroxyfm of fury produced by want, kills her offspring. 

 An averfion to fcciety is another eS'e£t of this natural and 

 acquired obduracy of temper. Birds of prey, as well as car- 

 nivorous quadrupeds, never afTociate. Like robbers, they 

 lead a folitary and wandering life. Mutual attachment unites 

 the male and the female ; and, as they are both capable of 

 providing for themfelves, and can give mutual afiiftance in 

 making vv^ar againil: other animals, they never feparate, even 

 after the feafon of love. The fame pair are uniformly found 

 ill the fame place ; but they never afTemble in flocks, nor 

 even afTociate in famihes. The larger kinds, as the eagles, 

 require a greater quantity of food, and, for that reafon, nev- 

 er allow their own offspring, after they have become rivals, 

 to approach the places which the parents frequent. But all 

 thofe birds, and all thofe quadrupeds, which are nourifhed by 

 the productions of the earth, live in familiesj are fond of 

 fociety, and afTemble in numerous flocks, without quarreU 

 ling or difturbing one another. 



