94 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



Channel into England, coming by way of France 

 and Spain from north or south or mid Africa and 

 from Asia, they at once proceed to disperse over the 

 entire country from Land's End to Thurso and the 

 northernmost islands of Scotland, until every wood 

 and hill and moor and thicket and stream, and every 

 village and field and hedgerow and farm house has 

 its own feathered people back in their old places. 

 But they do not return in their old force. They had 

 increased to twice or three times their original 

 numbers when they left us, and as a result of that 

 great adventure a half or two-thirds of the vast army 

 have perished. 



The instinct which in character comes nearest to 

 that of the parent simulating the action of a wounded 

 and terrified bird struggling to escape in order to 

 safeguard its young, is that one, very strong in all 

 ground-breeding species, of sitting dose on the nest 

 in the presence of danger. Here 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 minute or half a minute too 

 soon the bird sacrifices the eggs or young; by 

 staying a moment too long it is in imminent danger 



