BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 115 



too, the instinct is of prime importance to the 

 species, since the bird by quitting the nest reveals 

 its existence to the prowling, nest-seeking enemy 

 — dog, cat, fox, stoat, rat, in England; and in the 

 country where I first observed animals, the skunk, 

 armadillo, opossum, snake, wild cat, and animals 

 of the weasel family. By leaving its nest a min- 

 ute or half a minute too soon the bird sacrifices 

 the eggs or young; by staying a moment too long 

 it is in imminent danger of being destroyed itself. 

 How often the bird stays too long on the nest 

 is seen in the corn-crake, a species continually de- 

 creasing in this country owing to the destruction 

 caused by the mowing-machine. The parent birds 

 that escape may breed again in a safer place, but 

 in many cases the bird clings too long to its nest 

 and is decapitated or fatally injured by the cut- 

 ters. Larks, too, often perish in the same way. 

 To go back to the ailing or wounded bird 

 simulating action: this is perhaps most perfect in 

 the gallinaceous birds, all ground-breeders whose 

 nests are most diligently hunted for by all egg- 

 eating creatures, beast or bird, and whose tender 

 chicks are a favourite food for all rapacious 

 animals. In the fowl, pheasants, partridges, quail, 



