them against the more dangerous invasion 

 of their enemies. But all those birds 

 who live upon fruits and corn, and are too 

 often unwelcome intruders upon the fruits 

 of human industry, are chiefly solicitous in 

 constructing their nests to conceal them 

 from the eye of mankind. Informed by ex • 

 perience with how much severity he checks 

 their encroachments, they seem, by their 

 extreme precaution, to elude his observation 

 and to regard him as their most formidable 

 enemy. 



Some to the holly-hedge 

 Nestling repair, and to the thicket some ; 

 Some to the rude protection of the thorn 

 Commit their feeble offspring; the cleft tree 

 Offers its kind concealment to a few, 

 Their food its insects, and its moss their nests. 

 Others apart, far in the grassy dale, 

 Or roughening waste, their humble texture weave 

 "But most in woodland solitudes delight, 

 In unfrequented glooms, or shaggy banks, 

 Steep, and divided by a babbling brook. 

 Whose murmurs soothe them all the live-long 



day, 

 When by kind duty fixed. Among the roots 

 Of hazel, pendant o'er the plaintive stream, 

 They frame the first foundation of their domes; 

 Dry sprigs of trees, in artful fabric laid, 

 And bound with clay together. Now 'tis nought 

 But restless hurry through the busy air, 

 Beat by unnumbered wings. The swallow sweeps 

 The slimy pool, to build his hanging house 

 Intent. And often, from the careless back 

 Of herds and flocks, a thousand tugging bills 

 Pluck hair and wool; and oft, when unobserved, 

 Steal from the barn a straw ; till soft and warm, 

 Clean and complete, their habitation grows. 



The nestling and ovation of the feathered 

 race are no sooner completed, than they 

 enter upon another process still more tedious 

 and painful. Neither the nature nor extent 

 of the instinct of brutes is fully understood ; 

 this principle, however, during the incubation 

 of birds, seems in some respect to approach, 

 if not to surpass the owners of reason. 

 Nothing can exceed the patience of birds 

 when hatching ; during a period which con- 

 tinues from three to eight weeks, neither 

 the approach of danger, nor the calls of 

 hunger, can drive them from the nest. Be- 

 fore incubation is completed, the female, 

 however plump at the beginning, is gene- 

 rally emaciated to a skeleton. Among some 

 tribes, the male and female sit alternately, 

 the more equally to divide the tedious 

 labor ; among others, the male provides food 

 for his mate, while hatching, or alleviates 

 her toils by his melody from a neighboring 

 bush ; some join together in the arduous 

 operation, and, by increasing the heat, 

 endeavor to accelerate its progress. At 

 times, however, the eggs acquire a heat that 

 seems hurtful to infant life ; on these occa- 

 sions they are left to cool ; and the hen, 



after a longer or shorter space, according to 

 the weather, again resumes her occupation, 

 with her former perseverance and pleasure. 



Addison, when speaking of the instinct 

 of birds terms it an immediate direction 

 of Providence; such an operation of the 

 Supreme Being, as that which determines all 

 portions of matter to their proper centre of 

 attraction. It is certain, that they seem 

 almost entirely passive under its influence. 

 In obedience to its calls, they fly from one 

 appetite to another ; and whatever ingenuity 

 they may seem to possess while acting under 

 it, in everything beyond its reach they display 

 the utmost dullness, or the greatest stupidity. 

 " With how much seeming caution does the 

 hen provide herself a nest in places unfre- 

 quented, and free from disturbance ! When 

 she has laid her eggs, so that she can cover 

 them, what care does she take in turning 

 them regularly, that every part may partake 

 of the vital heat ! When she leaves them to 

 provide necessary sustenance, how punc- 

 tually does she return before they have time 

 to cool, and become incapable of producing 

 an animal ! When the birth approaches, 

 with how much nicety and attention does 

 she help the chick to break the prison ! She 

 covers it from the injuries of the weather, 

 provides it with proper nourishment, and 

 teaches it to help itself! " In all these par- 

 ticulars, her instinct guides her with the 

 caution and exactness of human reason in 

 its nicest and most delicate operations. Yet 

 with all these appearances of sagacity the 

 hen, in other respects, discovers no glim- 

 merings of thought, nor any shadow of in- 

 genuity. She will please herself with a 

 stone, or a piece of chalk, instead of an egg, 

 and will incubate it in the same manner. 

 She knows not the number she has laid, and 

 allows them to be increased or diminished 

 at pleasure. She cannot distinguish her own 

 eggs from those of another, and she will 

 rear a brood of ducks as carefully as of 

 chickens. When she beholds this supposi- 

 titious offspring launch into the pool, 

 she stands at the edge of the water trem- 

 bling between two contrary impulses of in- 

 stinct, but obeys the more powerful call of 

 nature, that of self-preservation. 



When the young are produced, the next 

 object of parental care is their protection 

 and support ; and the spirit and industry 

 they display at this period, demonstrate 

 how amply Nature has qualified them for 

 both. The most timid and inactive become 

 spirited and courageous in defence of their 

 progeny. The rapacious kinds acquire more 

 than usual ferocity. They carry their prey, 

 yet throbbing with life, to the nest, and 

 early accustom their young to habits of 

 cruelty and slaughter. Those of milder 

 natures, equally occupied by the necessary 



