tween the male birds that they can hardly bear 

 to be together in the same hedge or field. 

 Most of the singing and 

 elation of spirits of that 

 time seem to me to 

 be the effect of ri- 

 valry and emulation ; 

 and it is to this spir- 

 it of jealousy that 

 I chiefly attribute the 

 equal dispersion of 

 birds in the spring over 

 the face of the country. 



Now as to the busi- 

 ness of food : as these ani- 

 mals are actuated by instinct to 

 hunt for necessary food, they 

 should not, one would suppose, 

 crowd together in pursuit of a rook. 



sustenance at a time when it is 

 most likely to fail; yet such associations do take 

 place in hard weather chiefly, and thicken as the 

 severity increases. As some kind of self-interest 

 and self-defence is no doubt the motive for the 

 proceeding, may it not arise from the helplessness 

 of their state in such rigorous seasons? just as 

 men crowd together when under great calam- 

 ities, though they know not why. Perhaps ap- 

 proximation may dispel some degree of cold ; and 



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