CH. XXXI. INSTINCT OF BIRDS. 181 



and the roebuck's safety is in the denseness and 

 roughness of the wood in which it lies. 



There is some powerful instinct, also, which 

 assists animals in finding their food ; and many go 

 direct from great distances to places where they are 

 sure of finding it. Pigeons find out newly-sown 

 peas and other favourite grains almost immediately 

 after they have been put into the ground ; and will 

 frequently fly several miles to a field the very first 

 morning after it is sown. Wild ducks, also, whose 

 researches can only be made by night, are equally 

 quick in finding places where there is plenty of any 

 favourite food. The small gulls, particularly the 

 black headed gull, discover the ploughman before 

 he has finished his first furrow, and collect in great 

 flocks to pick up every grub or worm which he turns 

 up. The rapid instinct of birds who feed on carrion 

 has been alluded to already. In fact all birds, 

 whatever their food may be, have an instinctive 

 power of discovering it immediately, and that from 

 such great distances as to baffle all attempt at ex- 

 planation. In the mountainous districts of Suther- 

 landshire and others of the northern counties, the 

 red-deer invariably knows the exact time when the 

 shepherd's patch of corn and potatoes is fit for his 

 food, and will sometimes come down in such num- 



