268 THE UNIVERSE. 



stitch, done not with grass, but with a piece of string or a 

 thread -end, which it has stolen from some neighbouring 

 manufactory or dweUing, so that one sometimes feels in- 

 clined to ask what it did before pack-thread and spinning 

 were invented. 



CHAPTEE IV. 



IDLERS AND ASSASSINS. 



It would seem that in the bird activity and intelligence 

 are in inverse proportion to size. The idlers and free- 

 booters of the air generally belong to the most robust 

 tribes. 



The Avren lovingly hatches its charming little family 

 l)eneath a dome of moss and clown, constructed with deli- 

 cacy and ingenuity, and usually sheltered beneath eaves 

 of our roofs; a perfect mattressed sphere, which the mother 

 scarcely dares to quit, so much does she love her brood. 



The ostrich, a living emblem of force united to in- 

 dolence, does not give itself the trouble to construct a 

 nest. After having simply scattered the sand hj means 

 of its feet, it deposits its eggs upon the place, and commits 

 their inculmtion to the burning sun of the desert. It only 

 sits upon them in cold and damp nights ; and, as even if 

 this maternal effort Avere too great a strain upon her ten- 

 derness, several mothers are seen dividing among them 

 the cares of a doubtful parentage, for it seems certain that 



