APPENDIX. 655 



jerks the ofteneft, before the candle is burnt out, 

 wins the wager. We have been informed, that 

 there have been inftances of a bird's giving a hun- 

 dred and feventy jerks in a quarter of an hour ; 

 and we have known a linnet, in fuch a trial, per- 

 fevere in its emulation till it fwooned from the 

 perch : thus, as Pliny fays of the nightingale, vi&a 

 morte finit fape vitam, fpiritu prius deficiente qudm 



cantu * 



It may be here obferved, that birds when near 

 each other, and in fight, feldom jerk or fmg. 

 They either fight, or ufe fhort and wheedling calls; 

 the jerking of thefe call- birds, therefore, face to 

 face, is a moft extraordinary inftance of contention 

 for fuperiority in fong. 



It may be alfo worthy of obfervation, that the fe- 

 male of no fpecies of birds ever fings : with birds, 

 it is the reverfe of what occurs in human kind : 

 among the feathered tribe, all the cares of life fall 

 to the lot of the tender fex : theirs is the fatigue 

 of incubation ; and the principal fhare in nurfing 

 the helplefs brood : to alleviate thefe fatigues, and 

 to fupport her under them, nature hath given to 

 the male the fong, with all the little blandifhments 

 and foothing arts \ thefe he fondly exerts (even af- 

 ter courtfhip) on fome fpray contiguous to the neft, 

 during the time his mate is performing her paren- 

 tal duties, But that fhe fhould be filent, is alfo a- 



*' Lib, x. c, 29, 



nether 



