WAYS OF NATURE 



and fluttering motion of its tail and wings precisely 

 as if taking a real instead of an imaginary bath. 



Attempt to thwart the nesting-instinct in a bird 

 and see how persistent it is, and how blind! One 

 spring a pair of English sparrows tried to build a 

 nest on the plate that upholds the roof of my porch. 

 They were apparently attracted by an opening about 

 an inch wide in the top of the plate, that ran the 

 whole length of it. The pair were busy nearly the 

 whole month of April in carrying nesting-material 

 to various points on that plate. That big crack or 

 opening which was not large enough to admit their 

 bodies seemed to have a powerful fascination for 

 them. They carried straws and weed stalks and 

 filled up one portion of it, and then another and 

 another, till the crack was packed with rubbish from 

 one end of the porch to the other, and the indignant 

 broom of the housekeeper grew tired of sweeping 

 up the litter. The birds could not effect an entrance 

 into the interior of the plate, but they could thrust 

 in their nesting-material, and so they persisted week 

 after week, stimulated by the presence of a cavity 

 beyond their reach. The case is a good illustration 

 of the blind working of instinct. 



Animals have keen perceptions, — keener in many 

 respects than our own, — but they form no concep- 

 tions, have no powers of comparing one thing with 

 another. They live entirely in and through their 

 senses. 



160 



