OF THE SMALL BIRDS OF FLIGHT. 335 



cf thefe call-birds, therefore, face to face, is a mod 

 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: amono- 



o 



the feathered tribe, all the cares of life fall to the lot 

 of the tender fex : theirs is the fatigue of incubation - t 

 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 blandilhments and foothing arts-, thefe he 

 fondly exerts (even after caurtfhip) on fome fpray 

 contiguous to the neft, during the time his mate is 

 performing her parental duties. 



To thefe we may add a few particulars that fell 

 within our notice during our .enquiries among the 

 bird-catchers, fuch as, that they immediately kill the 

 hens of every fpecies of birds the-y take, being incapa- 

 ble of finging, as alfo being inferior 1 in plumage; the 

 pippets likewife are indifcriminately deftroyed, as the 

 cock does not ling well : they fell the dead birds for 

 three-pence or four-pence a dozen. 



Thefe fmall birds are fo good, that we are fur- 

 prized the luxury of the age neglecls fo delicate an ac- 

 quifition to the table. The modern Italians are fond 

 of fmall birds, which th&y eat under the common 

 name of Beccoficos : and the dear rate a Roman trage- 

 dian paid for one difli of finging birds * is well 

 known. 



* Maxim} tamen itijignis ejl in hac memoria, Clodii iEfopi 

 pagiri bijirionis patina fexcintis H, S. taxattt} in quo pbfuit ames 



Y 3 tantH 



