196 INTEODUCTOEY CHAPTEE. 



able aerie, his nest placed on the side of some steeply-scarped 

 mountain, or perhaps hidden in the depth of some inaccessible 

 ravine, whence they sally forth to visit some distant region in 

 search of prey. 



It is very difficult for us to appreciate the degree of intelligence 

 exhibited by birds. In the Mammifers, whose organisation ap- 

 proaches nearer to that of man, we are enabled partially to com- 

 prehend their joys and griefs ; but in the case of birds we are 

 reduced to conjecture in order to arrive at an estimate of their 

 sensations. To explain this profound mystery a word has been 

 invented which satisfies easy minds : we call the sentiment which 

 leads birds to perform many admirable actions which are related 

 of them, instinct. ' The tenderness of the mother for her young — 

 a tenderness so full of delicacy and foresight — is, we say, only the 

 result of instinct. It is agreed on all hands, however, that this 

 instinct singularly resembles the intelligence called reason, and, 

 in the opinion of many, is nothing else. 



Reproduction in birds occurs at intervals regulated by nature, 

 and they are distinguished, above all other creatures, for the 

 fidelity of their afiections. It is frequently a matter of observa- 

 tion that a male attaches itself to a female, and they henceforth 

 live together till the death of one or both ; and many afiectiag 

 scenes are described where death has overtaken one of the affec- 

 tionate pair. When the breeding season approaches, the habits 

 of the female are modified ; she abandons her former freedom, and, 

 having laid her eggs, she passes her whole time in incubation, 

 defying hunger and all other dangers, apparently well instructed 

 in the fact that the equal and prolonged heat communicated by 

 their contact with her body is necessary to hatch them. During 

 the period of incubation the male, in most instances, watches 

 the female, and supplies her with food ; afterwards the little ones 

 are waited on by both the parent birds with the tenderest care 

 until they finally attain the use of their wings. 



The solicitude of birds for their young is first manifested in the 

 choice of the locality for the nest, and in the care with which this 

 cradle of their progeny is constructed. But all this disappears 

 when the young no longer require the maternal protection. 



In spring, when the birds have paired, they set themselves to 



