318 NATURAL HISTORY 



tiled part of a roof over the nest of a swift. 

 The dam sat in the nest ; but so strongly 

 was she affected by natural a-ro^y^ for her 

 brood, which she supposed to be in danger, 

 that, regardless of her own safety, she would 

 not stir, but lay sullenly by them, permit- 

 ting herself to be taken in hand. The 

 squab young we brought down and placed 

 on the grass-plot. Where they tumbled 

 about, and were as helpless as a new-born 

 child. While we contemplated their naked 

 bodies, their unwieldy disproportioned ab- 

 domina, and their heads, too heavy for 

 their necks to support, we could not but 

 wonder w^hen we reflected that these shift- 

 less beings in a little more than a fortnight 

 would be able to dash through the air 

 almost with the inconceivable swiftness of 

 a meteor; and, perhaps, in their emigration, 

 must traverse vast continents and oceans 

 as distant as the equator. So soon does 

 Nature advance small birds to tfieir ixiKfoc, 

 or state of perfection ; while the progressive 

 growth of men and large quadrupeds is 

 slow and tedious ! I am, &c. 



