6 
HISTORY OF 
great birds ufe every precaution to render theirs 
kncceiiible to wild oeads or vermin. The un 
erring initinft which guides every fpecies i Q 
contriving the moft proper habitation for hatch- 
ing their young, demands our obfervation. J n 
hot tropical climates, neibs of the fame kind are 
made with lets art, and of lefs warm materials, 
than m the temperate zone, tor the fun in fonae 
men fare ailifts the buhnel's of incubation. 1 q 
general, however, they build them with great 
art, and line them with fuch fubfbances, as keep 
or communicate warmth to their eggs. No- 
thing can exceed their patience while hatching, 
neither the calls of hunger, nor the near ap- 
proach of danger could drive them from the 
r.eft j^jnd though they have. been found fat up- 
on beginning to lit, yet before the incubation 
is over, the female is- ufually wafted to a £ke- 
leton. 
Of all birds the Oftrich is the greatefb, and the 
American Humming-Bird the leait. In thefe 
the gradations of nature are ftrongly marked, 
for the Oltrich in fome refpe&s approaches the 
nature of that clafs of animals immediately 
placed above him, namely quadrupeds, being 
covered with hair, and incapable of hying.*, 
while the Humming-Bird, on the other hand, 
approaches that of inlefts. Thefe extremities 
of the fpecies, however, are rather objects o-. 
human cunohty than life. It is the middle, or- 
