INSTINCTS. 161 



nests without any education from their parents. 

 Compare a young quail, when a few days old, 

 with a child of as many months : he flies, runs, 

 seeks his food, avoids danger, and obeys the 

 call of his mother ; whilst a child is perfectly 

 helpless, and can perform few voluntary mo- 

 tions; has barely learnt to grasp, and can 

 neither stand nor walk. But to see the most 

 perfect instance of instinct, as contrasted with 

 acquired knowledge, look at common domestic 

 poultry, as soon as they are excluded from the 

 egg : they run round their mother, nestle in 

 her feathers, and obey her call, without edu- 

 cation : she leads them to some spot where 

 there is soft earth or dung, and instantly begins 

 scratching with her feet ; the chickens watch 

 her motions with the utmost attention ; if an 

 earthworm or larva is turned up, they instantly 

 seize and devour it, but they avoid eating 

 sticks, grass, or straws ; and though the hen 

 shows them the example of picking up grain, 

 they do not imitate her in this respect, but for 

 some days prefer ants, or the larvae of ants, to 

 a barley corn. They may have heard the 

 cluck of their mother in the egg, and having 



M 



