292 NATURAL HISTORY 



with the oddity of the sight, furnished the 

 bringer with a large shell, or conch, de- 

 siring him to fix it just where the owl 

 hung : the person did as he was ordered, 

 and the following year a pair, probably the 

 same pair, built their nest in the conch, 

 and laid their esixs. 



The owl and the conch make a strange 

 grotesque appearance, and are not the least 

 curious specimens in that wonderful col- 

 lection of art and nature.* 



Thus is instinct in animals, taken the 

 least out of its way, an undistinguishing, 

 limited faculty : and blind to every circum- 

 stance that does not immediately respect 

 self-preservation, or lead at once to the 

 propagation or support of their species. 

 I am, 



with all respect, &c. &c. 



* Sir Ashton Levers Musseurn. 



