66 
BIBDS IN A VILLAGE. 
full possession of all its faculties, acting consciously, 
and itself in as little danger of capture as when on 
its percli or flying through the air. We have seen 
that the action has its root in the bird's passion for 
its young, and intense solicitude in the presence 
of any danger threatening them, which is so 
universal in this class of creatures, and which 
expresses itself so variously in different kinds. 
This must be in all cases a painful and debili- 
tating emotion, and when the bird drops down to 
the earth its pain has caused it to fall as surely as 
if it had received a wound ; and when it flutters 
on the ground it is for the moment incapable of 
flight, and its efforts to recover flight and safety 
cause it to beat its wings, and tremble, and gasp 
with open mouth. The object of the action is to 
deceive an enemy, or, to speak more correctly, the 
result is to deceive ; and there is nothing that will 
more inflame and carry away any rapacious mammal 
than the sight of a fluttering bird. But in thus 
drawing upon itself the attention of an enemy 
threatening the safety of its eggs or young, to what 
a terrible danger does the parent expose itself, and 
how often, in those moments of agitation and 
debility, must its own life fall a sacrifice ! The 
swift sudden spring and rush of a feline enemy 
must have proved fatal in myriads of instances. 
From its inception to its most perfect stage, in the 
