1. Some general remarks	6. Stomach and bladder
2. Of their motion	7. Generation
3. Brain	8. Of some particular sorts of birds
4. Organs of sense	9. Reflections
5. Lungs

1. No part of nature is destitute of inhabitants. The woods, the waters, the depths of the earth, have their respective tenants; while the yielding air, and those tracts where man never can ascend, are also passed through by multitudes of the most beau­tiful beings of the creation.

Every order of animals is fitted for its situation in life; but none more apparently than birds. Though they fall below beasts in the scale of nature, yet they hold the next rank, and far surpass fishes and insects, both in the structure of their bodies arid in their sagacity.

The body of man presents the greatest variety: beasts less perfectly formed, discover their defects in the simplicity of their conformation: the mechanism of birds is yet less complex: fishes are furnished with fewer organs still; while insects, more imperfect than all, fill up the chasm between animal and vegetable nature. Of man, the most perfect animal, there are but three or four species; the kinds of beasts are more nume­rous; birds are more various still; fishes yet more; but insects afford an immense variety.

In all birds, except nocturnal ones, the head is smaller, and bears less proportion to the body than in beasts, that it may the more readily divide the air in flying. Their eyes also are more fiat and depressed, and a circle of small plates of bone, placed scale-wise under the outer coat of the organ, encompasses the pupil on each side to strengthen and defend it from injuries. Beside this, birds have a kind of skin, called the nictitating membrane, with which, hike a veil, they can at pleasure cover their eyes, though their eyelids continue open. This membrane serves also to wipe, cleanse, and probably to moisten its surface. The eyes, though they outwardly appear but small, yet each almost equals the brain; whereas in man the brain is more than twenty times larger than the eye.

Hence it follows, that the sense of SEEING in birds is infi­nitely superior to that of other animals. Indeed this piercing sight seems necessary to the creature’s support and safety. Were it not so, from the rapidity of the bird’s motion, it would be apt to strike against every object in its way; and it could scarcely find subsistence, unless it could discern its food front above with astonishing sagacity. A hawk, for instance, perceives a small bird at a distance, which neither men nor dogs could spy; and a kite, from an almost imperceptible height, darts clown on its prey with the most unerring aim.

Granivorous birds, or such as live upon vegetables, have their intestines differently formed from those of the rapacious kind. Their gullet dilates just above the breast-bone, and forms itself into a pouch or bag, called the crop. This is replete with salival glands, which moisten and soften the food it contains. After the dry food of the bird has been macerated, it passes into the belly, where, instead of a soft, moist stomach, as in the rapacious kinds, it is ground between two pair of muscles, commonly called the gizzard, covered on the inside with a strong ridgy coat. These coats rubbing against each other, are capable of attenuating the hardest substances; their action being often compared to that of the grinding teeth, in man and other animals.

Thus the organs of digestion are in a manner reversed in birds. Beasts grind their food with their teeth, and then it passes into the stomach, where it is softened and digested. On the contrary, birds of this sort first soften it in the crop, and then it is ground and comminuted in the stomach or gizzard. Birds are all careful’ to pick sand, gravel, and other hard’ substances, not to grind their food, as has been supposed, but to prevent the too violent action of the coats of the stomach against each other.

To birds, the return of spring is the beginning of pleasure. Those vital spirits which seemed locked up during the winter, then begin to expand; vegetables and insects supply abundance of food; and the bird having more than a sufficiency for its own subsistence, is impelled to transfuse life as well as to maintain it. Those warblings which had been hushed during the colder seasons, now begin to animate the fields; every grove and bush resounds with the challenge of anger, or the call of allurement. The delightful concert of the grove, which is so much admired by man, is no way studied for his amusement: it is the calf of the male to the female; his efforts to sooth her during the time of incubation: ,or a challenge between two males for the affections of some common favourite.

It is by this call that birds begin to pair a(the approach of spring, and provide for the support of a future progeny. The loudest notes are usually from the male; the hen expresses her consent, in a short interrupted twittering. Their compact holds-with unbroken faith: most birds live with inviolable fidelity together; and when one dies, the other is always seen to share the same fate soon after. We must look for it in our fields and in our forests, where nature continues in unadulterated simplicity; ‘where the number of males is generally equal to that of females. But the male of all wild birds is as happy in the young brood as the female. They both seem, at this season, transported with pleasure: every action testifies their tender solicitude.

But previous to laying, the work of nestling becomes the com­mon care: and this is performed with no small degree of assiduity. It has been asserted, that birds of one kind always make their nests in the same manner, and of the same materials ; but the truth is, they vary this as the materials, places, or climates, differ. The red-breast, in some parts of England, makes its nest with oak leaves, where they are in plenty, and in other parts with moss and hair. Some birds, that with us make a very warm nest, are less solicitous in the warm climates.. In general, however, every species of birds has a peculiar architecture of its own; and this adapted to the number of eggs, the temperature of the climate, or the heat of the animal’s body. Where the eggs are numerous, the nest is warm, that the animal’s heat may be equally diffused to them all. Thus the wren, and all the small birds make their nests very warm; for having many eggs, it is requi­site to distribute warmth to them all : on the contrary, the plover, that has but two eggs, the eagle, and the crow, are not so soli­citous in this respect, as their bodies are capable of being applied to the small number upon which they sit.

Nothing can exceed the patience of birds while hatching; neither hunger, nor danger, can drive them from the nest. They are fat upon beginning to sit, yet before incubation is over, are usually wasted to skin and bone. Indeed ravens and crows, while the females are sitting, take care to provide them with food in abundance. But it is different with most of the smaller kinds: daring the whole time male sits near his mate upon some tree, and sooths her by his singing; and often When she is tired takes her place, and patiently continues on the nest till she returns.

So great is the power of instinct in these animals, that they Continue almost passive under its influence. Yet, at the same time, the hen, that has all this seeming ingenuity in other respects, is without the least glimmering of common sense; she mistakes a piece’ of chalk for an egg, and sets upon it in the same manner; she is insensible of any increase or diminution in the number of those she lays; she does not distinguish between her own and those of another species; and when the birth appears of never so different a bird, will cherish it for her own.

As the principle which acts in these animals cannot be termed reason, so when we call it instinct, we mean something we have no knowledge of. It appears to me the immediate direction of Providence; and such an operation of the Supreme Being as that which determines all the portions’ of matter to their proper centres.

While the young are yet unfledged, the old one takes care to provide them with a regular supply: when the family is fully plumed, and capable of avoiding danger by flight, they are then led forth, when the weather is fine, and taught the paternal art of providing for their subsistence. They are led to the places where their food lies; they are shewn the method of discovering or carrying it away; and then led back to- the nest, for a day or two longer. At length, when they are qualified to shift for them­selves, the old one takes them abroad, and leading them to the accustomed places, forsakes them for the last time; and all connection is at an end.

Birds in general, though they have so much to fear from man and each other, are seldom scared from their usual haunts. The greatest number remain contented, where they hare been bred. The rook, if undisturbed, never desires to leave’ his native grove; the black bird still frequents its accustomed hedge; and the red-breast, though seemingly mild, claims a certain district, from whence he seldom moves, but drives out every one of the same species from thence without pity. They are excited to migrations by no other motives, but those of fear, climate or hunger. It is from one of these motives, that birds of passage, every year, forsake us for some time; and make their regular returns. The cause of their retreat is, either scarcity of food, or the want of an asylum from man, during the time of courtship, and bringing up their young. Thus the starling, at Sweden, at the approach ‘of winter, finding subsistence no longer, descends into Germany; and the hen-chaffinches of the same country are seen to fly every year through Holland, to pass their winter in a milder climate. Others prepare for longer journeys. Thus the quails, in spring, forsake the heats of Africa, for the milder sun of Europe; and when they have passed the summer with us, steer their flight to enjoy, in Egypt, the temperate air. This with them seems a preconcerted undertaking. They unite together in some open place, for some days before their departure, and, by an odd kind of chattering, seem to debate on the method to proceed. Then they all take flight together, and often in such numbers, that, to mariners at sea, they seem like a cloud upon the horizon. The strongest, and by far the greatest number, make good their intention; but many there are, who grow weary in the way, and drop down into the sea, and sometimes upon the decks of ships.

Of the vast quantity of water-fowl, that frequent our shores, few are known to breed here. The cause that urges them to leave us seems to be, not merely the want of food, but the desire of a secure retreat. Our country is too- populous for birds so shy, as the greatest number of these are. When great part of our island was an uncultivated tract of woods and marshes, many species of birds, which now migrate, remained with us the whole year. The great heron, and the crane, that have now forsaken this country, in former times bred familiarly in our marshes. Their nests, like those of most cloven footed water fowl, were built on the ground, and exposed to every invader. But as rural economy increased, these animals were more and more disturbed. Once they had little to fear, as the surrounding marsh defended them from all the carnivorous surrounding quadrupeds, and their own strength from birds of prey; but by a long series of alarms, they have, at length, been obliged to seek, during the summer, some lonely habitation, at a safe distance from every destroyer.

Of the numerous tribes of the duck kind, we know of no more than five that breed here. The rest contribute to form that amazing multitude of water fowl which annually repair to the dreary lakes and deserts of Lapland, from the more southern countries of Europe. In those solitary retreats, they perform the duties of incubation and nutrition in full security. There are few of this kind that may not be traced to the northern deserts; to countries of lake s, rivers, swamps and mountains, covered with thick and gloomy forests. In those regions, from the thick­ness of the forests, the ground remains moist and penetrable during the summer season; the woodcock, the snipe, and other slender-billed birds, can there feed at ease; while the web-footed birds find more than sufficient food from the number of insects, which swarm to an incredible degree. The days’ there are long; and the beautiful nights afford them every opportunity of collecting so minute a food,

2. Birds have feathers which they expand in order to fly; the fire branches of which lie so close together, that little air can insinuate itself between them. Now when the column of air on which a body rests is specifically heavier than the body, it remains suspended in the air; if it be lighter, the body sinks:

Hence, the larger space a body circumscribes, the more easily does the air sustain it. Consequently the same bird which sinks when the wings are closed, is sustained when they are expanded. To this also the motion of the wings contributes: as a body while moving swiftly, will swim in water, which immediately sinks, if that motion ceases. And so do the feathers, with which their bodies are clothed, which increase their bulk, but not their weight in the same proportion.

The parts of birds chiefly concerned in flying, are the wings and the tail. y the first, the bird sustains and wafts himself along. By the econed he is enabled to keep his body steady and upright, particularly in ascending and descending. It is by the largeness and strength of the pectoral muscles, that they are qualified for flying. In men these are scarce a seventeenth part of the muscles of the body. In birds they considerably outweigh all the other’ muscles together. And this circumstance alone, the want of suitable muscles, makes all human attempts to fly, void and vain.

Nevertheless the art of flying has been seriously attempted by many, in various ages, particularly in the time of our famous friar Bacon, who lived about 500 years since, and whom his excellent works shew to have been a rare chymist, an excellent mathematician, a knowing mechanic, and a most accomplished experimental philosopher. Yet even lie believed the art of flying possible, and says, he himself knew how to make an engine, in which a man sitting, might be able to convey himself through the air, like a bird. Nay he affirms, that there was then another person, who had actually tried it with success.

In flying, the bird first bends his legs and leaps from the ground; then opens the joint of his wings, so as to make a right line, perpendicular to the sides of his body. Being now raised and strongly vibrating his wings, the air re-acts, as much as it is acted upon, and so protrudes his whole body. But in recovering his wing for fresh strokes, it has a great resistance to overcome. To elude this, the bony part of the wing, into which the feathers are inserted, moves sideways with its sharp end foremost, and the feathers follow it like a flag.

All birds have near their tail a little bag, which contains oil, to moisten their feathers. Geese have two glands for the secretion. of this: other birds only one. In this are divers little cells ending in two or three large ones, lying under the nipple of the oil bag. This nipple is perforated, and being prest by the bird’s bill, emits its oil.

In all birds that fly much, the wings arc placed in the very best manner, to balance their bodies in the air, and to give as swift a progression as they are severally capable of. Otherwise they would reel and fly unsteadily; as we See they do if we destroy the equipoise, by cutting one of their wings.

And what nicety may we observe, in a part no more considera­ble, than the vanes of the flag-feathers of the wing !—1. The cdges of the exterior or narrow vanes bend downward, but the interior, wider vanes, upward. By this means they catch hold and lie close to each other, when the wing is spread;’ that not one feather may miss its full force and impulse upon the air. 2. Equal nicety is observed in the very sloping the tips of the flag-feathers:

the interior vanes are neatly sloped away to a point, toward the Outward part of the wing. The exterior, (at leas in many birds) are sloped toward the body. And in the middle the wing, the vanes being equal, are but little sloped, so that the wing whether open or shut is as neatly sloped as if constantly trimmed with a pair of scissars.

The vane consists not of one continued membrane, because if once broke, it would not easily be repaired: but of many laminæ, which arc thin, stiff, and something resembling a thin quill. Toward the shaft of the feather (especially in the flag-feathers of the wing) these Iaminæ are broad and of a semicircular form, which serves for strength, and forshutting them close together, when impulses are made on the air. Toward the outer part of the vane, they grow slender and taper. On their under side they are thin and smooth; but their upper, outer edge is parted into two hairy edges.

As curiously made are the feathers in the wing, and no less curiously placed, exactly according to their several lengths and strength; and these again are lined, faced, and guarded with Covers and secondary feathers, to keep the air from passing through, and so eluding the impulse.

How admirably wrought are tile bones of the wing! very strong, hut light withal ; the joints, which open, shut, and move as occasion is; and the various muscles, all suited to the motions which they minister to.

Next to the parts for flight, let us view the legs and feet, which minister to their other motions; both made light, for their easier passage through the air; and the latter, some with membranes for swimming, some without, for steady going, for perch­ing, for catching and holding their prey, or for hanging by. the heels to gather their food: the legs, all curved, for their easy perching or roosting, as also to help them upon their wings, in taking their flight. In some they are long, for wading and searching the waters: in others, if need be, remarkably short. And how wisely are they placed! In all, somewhat out of the centre of the body’s gravity; but in such as swim, more than into hers, for the better rowing their bodies: as also to help them in diving.

Geese and ducks, their bodies being made for swimming, have their wings too placed out of the centre of gravity, nearer the head; but the extending the neck and head in flight, balances the body upon the wings; which is another excellent use, beside searching for food, of the long neck of these birds.

But in the heron, whose head and long neck, although tucked up in flight, overbalances the’ hinder part of the body, the long legs are extended, both to counterpoise the body, and to supply what is wanting in the tail.

It has been supposed, that the flying of birds is analogous to the rowing of vessels. But it is a motion of quite a different kind. Oars are struck toward the stern: whereas birds do not vibrate, their wings toward the tail, but waft them downward. Nor does the tail cut the air (as the rudder does the water) at right angles, but horizontally. It likewise keeps the same situation, which way soever the bird turns.

It is not therefore by the tail, that most birds turn to the right hand or the left, but by time wings. They turn to the right, by beating the air with the left wing alone toward the tail; to the left, by beating it with the right wing. Thus Pigeons* changing their course toward the left, labour with the right wing, scarce by stirring the other.

Birds with long necks have another way of altering their course, by only inclining their head and neck this or that way.

Birds rarely fly up or down perpendicularly, but rather in a crooked line. In asscending directly, the natural and artificial tendency would counteract each other. In descending directly, both would concur, and endanger too precipitate a motion.

Only the hawk stoops directly to seize its prey: whereas other birds in descending, retard the motion by keeping their wings expanded, and at the same time stretching out their feet and legs.

There is no flying animal, but has feet as well as wings; because there is no food, or at least not sufficient for them, to be had always in the air. But if there were, yet such birds could take no rest; for having no feet, they could not perch upon trees. And if they alighted on the ground, they could not raise them­selves again: which birds that have short feet can hardly do. Beside, they would want means of breeding, having no way to lay their eggs, to sit, hatch, or brood their young.

It is a remarkable use which is made of pigeons, in the eastern countries. They are trained up in Turkey and Persia, to carry expresses; being first used to short flights, afterwards to longer, till at length they will return from the farthest part of the kingdom. Yea, if they are brought hood-winked twenty or thirty miles, nay, sixty or a hundred, they will find their way in a ,very little time, to the place were they were bred. Every bashaw has a basket of the pigeons bred at the Seraglio; one of which he dispatches thither on any emergent occasion, with letters braced under her wings. This proves a more speedy method, as well as safer, than any other. For one of these birds will carry a letter from Babylon to Aleppo, which is thirty days journey, in forty-eight hours.

Before we conclude this head, it may be observed, that all the parts of birds are fitted for the use of flying. First, as the mus­cles of the wings are peculiarly strong, so the under side of them is made concave, and the upper convex, that they may be the more easily lifted up, and the more strongly strike the air. Then the trunk of their body somewhat resembles the hull of a ship ; the head, the prow; which is ‘generally small, that it may the more readily cut the air, and make way for the body. Add to this, that the bodies of birds are small in comparison of beasts, that they may be more easily supported by the air. And they are not only small, but of a broad figure, that they may be buoyed up the better. They are also hollow and light: yea, their very bones are light. For even those of the legs and wings have ample cavities: by this means also they become rigid and stiff: it being demonstrable, that a hollow body is more stiff and inflexible, than a solid one of equal substance. The shafts also of the feathers are either empty, or filled with a light and spungy matter. And their webs consist of two rows of contiguous fila­ments furnished all along with hooks on each side, whereby catching hold of one another they stick fast together.

As to their tails, although it is true, as was observed, that all birds whose tails are pointed and end in a right line, turn them— selves by their wings and not their tails, yet in those that have forked tails it is otherwise. Thus it is manifest to sight, that the forked-tailed Kite, by turning her train sideways, raising one horn, and depressing the other, turns her whole body; and doubt­less the tail has the same use in swallows, who have all forked tails, and make more sudden turns in the air than any other bird.

To lighten birds still farther, they have large membranes extending to the bottom of their bellies, into which the air is received, where, by the heat of the body it is expanded into twice or thrice the dimensions of the external air. And this they can either compress by the muscles of the abdomen, or expire more or less, in order to their descending swifter or slower, in what degree they please.

3. As to the brain of birds, whereas in men the cortical part of the brain is outermost, in birds it is innermost, and the mem­brane that covers the upper ventricle is modullary. The ventri­cles likewise are situated above, near the upper part of the scull.

Perhaps before we proceed, it may be well to premise one, general observation, that the structure of birds is in many respects different from those both of men and beasts; having several parts which these want, and wanting others which they have. Besides, there are great variations in the contrivance of parts which are common to both: all wisely adapted to their different conditions and manner of life.

Parts peculiar’ to birds are, 1. The bill. 2. The membrane to draw over the eyes. 3. Feathers and wings. The parts wanting in birds are, 1. Teeth and lips. 2. The bladder, which they do not need, as they drink no more than just to moisten their food. Variations in the parts of birds from those of men and beasts, are, 1. In the ear, which is of a very peculiar make. 2. In the division of the aorta. 3. In the spinal marrow, which is divided into two in the middle of the back. 4. In the bones, which are all hollow. 5. In the heart, which has a fleshy valve at the mouth of the vena cava. 6. In the lungs, which are strongly joined to the back, for the greater conveniency of flight. 7. In the stomach: birds have two oz more, to supply the want of chewing. 8. In the legs and feet. L In their tails. 10. In their pectoral muscles, which are the strongest of all, whereas in man the crural muscles are the strongest. 11. In the brain, as was before observed. 12. In the bronchia, which extends to the very bottom of the abdomen, so as to contain a large quantity of air’. 13. In the ovaries, which in birds are single and fastened on their back. 14. The ears of birds differ much from those both of men and beasts. There is almost a direct passage from ear to ear: so that if the drum be pricked in either ear, water poured in at one ear, will run out at the other. And what is still more remarkable ‘they have a small winding passage, that opens into a large cavity, running betwixt two skulls, and passes all around the head. The upper of these skulls is supported by many hundreds of small, thread-like pillars: which have another use also, to break their sound and hinder its making a confused echo.

This passage between the two skulls is much larger in singing birds than in others. So that” a person who has been shewn this, may hereafter know them from all others.

The other organs of sense are nearly the same in birds as in other animals. Only there is a difference in the organ of smell. The nostrils lie on each side of the beak, in the inner part whereof, beside the tube which reaches to the lungs, there are little tubes, continued from the membranes and substance of the brain. And these seem to be the organ of smell. Only two nerves pass through the os cribroaumto the beak: lest if there were more perforations, as in other animals, too much air might flow into the brain.

The bill of birds is peculiarly remarkable. In the first place, it is neatly shaped for piercing the air. In the next, it is hard and horney, to supply the want of teeth, and also in some measure, of a hand. Its hooked form is of great use to rapacious birds, in catching and holding their prey; and to others, in climbing, and in taking and comminuting their food.* Its extraordinary length and slenderness is of use to some, to search for their food in

Parrots have their bills nicely adapted to these services, being hooked, for climbing and reaching what they want, and the lower jaw so exactly fitted to the hook of the upper, that it will break the food, as other creatures do with their teeth. moorish places it as its length and breadth is to others, to hunt and search in muddy places. The contrary form, a thick, short and sharped edged bill, is as useful to all other birds, who must husk the’ grain they swallow. But it would be endless to reckon tip all the shapes and commodious mechanism of all: the sharp­ness and strength of those that have occasion to perforate woods and shells is the slenderness and neatness of such as pick up small insects: the cross form of such as break up fruits; the compressed form of others, with many other curious forms, all suited to the occasions of the several species.

In the flat-billed birds, as ducks, there are three pair of nerves, ‘which come down between the eyes in the upper bill, whereby they are enabled to smell and find out their food in the mire or water. The like have been observed in several round-billed birds, but so small as to be scarce discernable. Only in the rook they are discernable enough: and it is remarkable that these, more than any other round-billed birds, grope for their meat in cow-dung, and the like.

5. Of their LUNGS it is observable, that they are not only larger in proportion than those of beasts, but they admit the air, both above and beneath, by which means they become far lighter. A duck is furnished with a peculiar structure of vessels, which enables it to live some time under water. Yet she cannot live without air. One that was put into the air-pump, and the

+ As the woodcocks and snipes, who hunt for worms in moorish ground, and likewise suck the unctuous humour out of the earth. So also the bills of curlews, and other sea fowl, are very long, to enable them to hunt for worms, &c. in the sands.

Ducks, geese, and divers other species of birds, have bills both long and broad, whereby they are enabled to quaffer in the water or mud, till they find their food.

The green woodspite, and all woodpeckers have strong and sharp bills, curiously made for digging wood. An even ridge runs along to the top of the green woodpecker’s bill, as if an artist bad designed it at once for strength and neatness.

Woodpeckers have also a tongue, ending in a sharp, bony rib, dented on each side, which they can at pleasure shoot out to a great length, and thrust into the holes, clefts and crannies of trees. They strike them likewise into ant hills, and fetch out the ants and their eggs. Moreover, they have short, but strong legs, and their toes stand, two forward, two backward; a disposi­tion which is particularly convenient for the climbing of trees. In this they are likewise assisted by the uncommon stiffness of the feathers of their tails, and by their bending downward, whereby they are fitted to serve them as props to lean on.

The cross-bill, whose bill is thick and strong, with the tips crossing each other, readily breaks open fir-cones and other fruits, to come at and feed on the kernels. And undoubtedly the crossing of the bill was designed for this very service.

The sea-pye has a long, sharp, narrow bill, compressed sideways, and every way adapted to the raising limpets from the rocks, which are its chief, if not only, food.

air exhausted, seemed to bear it better for a few moments than any other fowl. But in less than two minutes her head fell down, and she appeared dying, till revived by letting in the air.

A young callow duck, being tried in the same manner, was near death in less than two minutes. It is observable, both of them swelled extremely, on pumping out the air. It not being intended, that water-fowl should live in an exceeding rarified air, but only continue under water, they are qualified for this, but not at all for the other.

Yet that Ducks can live almost any where, we may learn from the blind ducks of Zerchintzer lake, in Carniola, a territory of Austria. This communicates with another lake under ground in the mountains of Savornick, and fills or empties itself according to the fulness or emptiness of that. The waters of the upper lake, when it empties, run off by large holes in the bottom. The ducks which are very plentiful in the water, are often carried down with it into the subterraneous lake. In this many of them undoubtedly perish; yet some remain alive. But they loose their. sight and feathers: and at the next filling of the upper lake, both they and vast numbers of fish are thrown up with the water. They make a strange appearance in their naked state; and for want of sight are easily caught. In about a fortnight they recover their sight and their feathers, and are then as big as common wild ducks. At their first coming up, their stomachs are full of small fishes, and something resembling weeds. It seems, there­fore, they were not quite blind, when in their dark habitation, but could see by that small quantity of light, to search for and find their food.

Nor is it in this lake only that these ducks are found. They are frequently thrown up, after great rains, at a hole in a mountain, near the town of Laon, in the isle of France. The water then gushing out with great violence, brings these blind and bald creatures with it. And their frequency and cheapness, from the vast quantities which are thrown out, make them esteemed no variety.

The bodies of duckers or loons are admirably fitted for diving: being covered with a thick plumage, and the surface of it so smooth, that the water cannot penetrate it. Hereby their bodies are defended from the cold, the water being kept at a distance; and are so poised, that by a light impulse, they easily ascend in it. Again, their feet are situate in the hindmost part of the body, so that shooting them backward and striking the water upwards, they plunge themselves down with great ease, and move forward therein. Their legs also are made flat and broad, and their feet cloven into toes, with appendant membranes on each side. By this configuration they easily cut the water, and are drawn forward, to take their stroke backward: and by this, their feet being moved to the right or left, serve them as a rudder to turn under water. How they rise above water is not determined whether by their natural lightness, or by striking against the bottom, in the manner’ of a leap, or by some peculiar motion of the legs. That they dive to the bottom is undeniable. For in the stomachs, both of the greater and lesser kind, we find much grass and other weeds; and in ‘the lesser kind, little else. Yet both prey upon fish; and their bills are straight and sharp, for the easier striking their prey.

It is likewise remarkable, that whereas in other animals the lungs are loose and have much play, in all birds they adhere to the thorax, and have little play. This is a good provision for their steady flight. Also they want the diaphragm, and instead thereof have divers large bladders, made of thin, transparent membranes, with pretty large holes, out of one into the other. These membranes serve for braces to the viscera, as well as to contain air. Toward the upper part, each lobe of the lungs is perforated in two places with large perforations; whereof one is toward the outer, the other toward the inner part of the lobe. ‘Through these perforations the air has a passage into the fore-mentioned bladders; so that by blowing into the windpipe, the lungs are raised, and the whole belly blown up. This doubtless is a means to make them more or less buoyant, as they take in more or less air: and so answers the design of the air-bladder in fishes.

In general we may observe, whatever is peculiar in the wings, bills, and every other part of birds, on a close inspection will be found exactly suited to their wants. They are a set of imple­ments nicely proportioned to their manner of life. To instance in a few, sparrows and most small birds are supported by the little grains they find up and down. They have no effort to make, to obtain their food, or break it in pieces, and therefore have a small bill, as well as short necks and legs, which are suf­ficient for their purposes. But the woodcock, snipe, curlew, and many other birds, seek their food deep in the earth or slime. Therefore they are provided with a long neck and bill, and with these they dig and search, and want for nothing. The wood­pecker, who lives in a quite different manner, is as differently formed. His bill is very long, solid, and strong: his tongue is sharp, and extremely long; beside which, it is armed with little points, and covered with glue toward the extremity. He has short legs, two talons before, two behind, and all very crooked. All this equipage suits his manner of living. His food is worms or insects, that live in the heart of branches of trees, or under the bark of old wood; frequently they are sunk very deep, tinder the bark of large billets. The woodpecker has hooked claws, to grasp these branches; and a strong and pointed bill, to find out by darting it up and down, what parts of them are rotten. When he has found out these, he with his bill, shatters the bark and wood. He then sends forth a loud whistling cry, into the cavity, to alarm the insects and put them in motion. Next he darts in his tongue, and by the small points which arise out of it, and the glue that covers it, draws out whatever is lodged there,

The HERONS on the contrary, mounts aloft. His legs and thighs are very long, and bare of feathers. He has, a great length of neck, and an enormous bill, very sharp and jagged at the end. What reason can be assigned for a figure, which at first sight seems so extravagant He feeds on frogs and small shell-fish, as well as other fish, which he finds in fens, or bogs, or near the shores of rivers. He wants no feathers on his thighs to walk through water and slime: but he needs very long legs, to run in the water, along the shores, whither the fishes resort for their food. A long neck and bill qualify him for pursuing and seizing his prey at some distance: and the jaggs of his bill enable him to hold the fish, which would otherwise slide away. In fine, his large wings, which seem incommodious to a bird of so small a body, are absolutely needful for his making so great movements in’ the air, and conveying such burdens to his nest, which is fre­quently two or three leagues distant from the place where he fishes.

The imperfections, therefore, which we imagine we discover, in this, as in many other animals, in reality belong only to our own understanding, and all our censures of the works of nature, are, in truth, only so many indications of our own ignorance.

6. The stomach, especially of granivorous birds, is of a pecu­liar structure. First, there is a glandulous receptacle, wherein the grains are kept for some time. They are then received into another stomach, consisting of two muscles, and a callous mem­brane. One of these moves obliquely downward, and the other upward. Hereby the shell of the grain is broke, and the meal expressed and mixt with proper juices. The aliments thus pre­pared, fall into the bottom of the stomach, where they are purged again from the refuse : to which end that part is a little raised, that the corn may not pass out too soon. There is also a par­tition, which divide what is already digested from the rest.

As birds have n ladder, in the room of urine, a whitish excrement is discharged from the kidneys into the rectum

7. The generation of birds is not well known. In the ovary, placed between the liver and the back-bone, a great number of yolks are contained; one of which, when impregnated, passes through the oviduct into tire womb, where it receives the white. and the shell, and remains till it comes to its full size. The parent then broods over it, till the young being gradually formed, perfected, and quickened, bursts the shell.

Under the shell of an egg lies the common membrane, adhering closely to it, except at the bigger end, where a little space is left between them. This membrane contains two whites, each enclosed in its own membrane. In the middle of the inner white is the yolk, enclosed likewise in a separate cover. The outer white is oval, the inner round, as is the yolk, and of a more viscid substance.

At each end is a chalaza, a white, dense body, consisting of three little globules, like grains of hail, (so the word signifies) all joined together. These serve both to knit the several mem­branes together, and to keep the liquors in their proper places and position.

About the middle of the small end of the yolk, is a little yel­lowish bladder, like a vetch, called the cicatricula, or EYE of the egg. This contains a humour, in and out of which the young bird is generated. The white serves it for food, till it becomes big; then the yolk, and likewise after it is hatched. For even then a good part of the yolk is lodged in its belly, as in a store­house, and being conveyed thence by the intestinal duct into the bowels, serves it instead of milk.

An egg, improperly so called, is that, of the whole whereof the animal is formed. Such are the eggs of flies. Proper eggs, when excluded, need no external nutriment. Of proper eggs, some are perfect, that is, have all the parts above described, while in the ovary or womb: some imperfect, which have them not, till after they are excluded; as those of fishes, which assume a white in the water.

An egg not impregnated by the male, will never breed young, but always putrify. One impregnated contains the rudiments of the bird, even before incubation. By the microscope we see the plain carina or spine of it swimming in the middle of the cica­tricula, consisting of fine, white threads, which incubation gra­dually perfects.

The air bag is very small in a new laid egg, but becomes larger when the ëggis kept. The yolk is špecifically heavier than the white. Hence its smaller end is always uppermost, in all positions of the egg.

After incubation, the air-bag gradually extends, till near the hatching; it takes up a third of the egg. By incubation the white becomes thinner and more turbid, especially near the air bag, where it is first consumed. Then it lessens towards the sharp end of the egg, till nothing is left, but a white, chalky substance. The white of an impregnated egg is as sweet all the time of incubation as that of a new laid egg. They are only unim­pregnated eggs, vulgarly called wind eggs, which putrify and stink.

The yolk also remains fresh and uncorrupted all the time of the incubation. It is deprest in the middle, as the chick grows, and is soon brought into a form, not much unlike that of a horse­shoe, in the middle of which the chick lies.

Not long before the chick is hatched, the whole yolk is taken into the abdomen.

The eye or tread, in which the chick lies, is soon enlarged by incubation, and rises to the upper part of the egg. The heart and umbilical vessels, are some of the first parts which we are able to distinguish.

The embryo is seen at first like a small worm. Then its carina or spine appears, with the large prominences that afterward shew themselves to be the brain and eyes. The other bowels seem hanging from the spine. Then the chasm of the mouth is discovered. The extremities sprout out. The bowels are gradually covered with the teguments. At last the beak, nails, and feathers are seen. When all its parts are formed, the chick is always found lying on its side, with its neck bent forward, the head covered with the upper wing, and the beak placed between the thighs.

The birds which nourish their young, have commonly very few. On the contrary, those whose young feed themselves when their first see the day, have sometimes eiglen or twenty at a brood. This prudence could only spring from Him, who regulates all things to the best advantage. Were those who provide for their young to have so numerous a brood, both the parents would be slaves, and yet the young but ill accommodated. Whereas the mother, who only marches at their head, without nourishing them, can conduct twenty as well as four.

But when they first make their appearance, what care do the parents take, till their young can subsist without them Of those that feed their young, the linnet and the nightingale then labour like the rest. Sometimes one parent goes in quest of provisions, Sometimes the other, and sometimes both. They are up before the sun. And the food they have procured, they distribute with great equality, giving each a portion in its turn, before ever they feed one bird twice.

And this tenderness for their offspring is so strong, as even to change their natural disposition. Follow the hen when she is the parent of a family, and she is no longer the same creature. She is no longer ravenous and insatiable. If she finds but a grain of corn or a crum of bread, she never touches it herself, but calls her troop, by a note they well understood, and divides it among them. She is no longer timorous, but at the head of her young, will spring even at the stoutest dog.

When the turkey-ken appears at the head of her young, she sometimes utters a mournful cry, and they immediately run under bushes, furze or whatever presents itself. She looks upward, and repeats her cry: which is occasioned by her seeing a bird of prey, though so distant, that he appears unto us, only as a dark point under the clouds. But he no sooner disappears, than she utters another cry, which revives all her brood. They run to her, flutter their wings, and shew all the tokens of joy. Now, who apprizes her of an enemy, that never vet committed any act of hostility in the Country And how is she able to discover him, when at so great a distance How are her family instructed, to understand her different cries, and regulate their behaviour accordingly What wonders are these which are daily obvious to our view, though we treat them with inattention!

An amazing degree of natural instinct, or understanding, God has imparted to birds of passage. They fly in troops, often in the form of a wedge, with the point foremost. They steer their course through unknown regions, without either guide or compass. And they are peculiarly accommodated for their flight, by the structure of their parts.

In the act of migration, it is highly remarkable, 1. That they know, as the scripture speaks, their- appointed times, when to come and when to go. Appointed by whom Surely by the great Creator, who has imprinted on their nature an inclination, at such a time to fly from a place that would obstruct their gene­ration, or not afford food for them and their young, and betake themselves to another place, which will afford all that is wanting.

It is highly remarkable, 2. That they know whither to go, and which way to steer their course! That they should be directed yearly to the same place, perhaps to a little island, as the Basse in Edinburgh-Frith! How came land birds to venture over a vast ocean, of which they can see no end And how do they steer their course aright to their several quarters, which before the compass was invented, man himself was not able to do They could not possibly see them at that distance. Or if they could, what should teach or persuade them that that land is more proper for their pur­pose than this That Britain, for instance, should afford them better accommodations, than Egypt, than the Canaries, than Spain, or any other of the intermediate places

But it has been commonly supposed that several birds are of this number, because they disappear in winter, which really are not; cuckoos, for instance, and swallows; for neither of these ever cross the seas. Cuckoos lodge all the winter in hollow trees, or other warm and convenient cavities. And swallows have been found in vast quantities, clung together in a lump, like swarms of bees, but utterly cold and senseless, (even in ponds that have been cleaned out,) hanging under the water,

I know not how we can doubt of of this fact, that swallows have been found in winter, under water, clung together, attested by men of unquestionable veracity. And yet others affirm, that they have seen flights of swallows crossing the sea in autumn. The truth seems to be this. There are some species of swallows, which seek a warmer climate at the approach of winter, while others remain here in a temporary death, like the flies on which they feed.

They have in Virginia, a martin, like ours, only larger, which builds in the same manner. Colonel Bacon observed for several years, that they constantly came thither upon the tenth of March. Two of them always appeared a day or two before, hovering in the air. Then they went away, and speedily returned with the whole flock.

The following seems to be a very rational account of most of those that are really birds of passage.

When, by the approach of our winter, their food fails, birds of passage are taught by instinct to seek it elsewhere. Want of food seems to be the chief reason for their migration. The length of their wings enables them to catch the flying insects, with which the air is stored during the warm months. And most summer birds of passage, feed on the wing upon such insects as are seen no more when winter comes. If it be considered, how much of the globe still remains unknown, it is no wonder we are not yet acquainted with the places to which they retire. Probably they lie nearly in the same latitude in the southern hemisphere, as those from whence they depart.

As swallows cannot bear so much cold, as some other birds of passage, they are constrained to visit us somewhat later, and to depart somewhat sooner. Some birds stay a month after them. Pro­bably many of them perform long journies chiefly in the night. Lying on the deck of a sloop, on the north side of Cuba, I and the company with me heard, three nights successively, flights of rice birds, their notes being plainly distinguishable, passing over our heads northerly, which is their direct way from the southern continent of America, from whence they go yearly when the rice begins to ripen, and after growing fat, return back.

There are also winter birds of passage, which arrive here in autumn and go away in spring, namely, the fieldfare, redwing, woodcock and snipe. But the two latter sometimes spend the whole year here. Whereas the two former constantly at the approach of summer, retire to more northern climates, where they breed and remain till, at the return of winter, they return to us again.

The winter food of these birds being berries and haws, which are far more plentiful here than in more northern regions, this is the reason of their coming over: but the principal is, the seve­rity of the weather in those climates, which nature teaches them to exchange, for such as are more temperate. But why do they depart from us in spring This still remains among the secrets of nature.

Beside these SUMMER and WINTER birds, there are others which come periodically to certain places, for the sake of some sort of food, which their own country is destitute of. These quickly depart, and are seen no more till that the twelve-month. Such are the RICE-BIRD and BLUE-WING of Carolina.

But above half a century passed!, from the time of cultivating rice and wheat in Carolina and Virginia, before these foreign birds made their appearance there. The WHEAT-BIRDS now come annually to Virginia, when the wheat ripens, and have come every year, since their first appearance, in numerous flights.

The species of birds already known, amount to about eight hundred. Linnæus divides them into six classes; namely, into birds of the RAPACIOUS KIND, birds of the PIE KIND, birds of the POULTRY KIND, birds of the SPARROW KIND, birds of the DUCK KIND, and birds of the CRANE KIND. The four first com­prehend the kinds of land birds; the two last, those that belong to the water.

In beginning with the feathered tribe, the OSTRICH seems to unite the class of beasts and of birds in itself. While it has the general outlines and properties of a bird, it retains many of the marks of a beast. In appearance it resembles the camel, and is almost as tall; it is covered with a plumage that resem­bles hair much more than feathers, and its internal parts bear as near a similitude to those of the beast as of the bird creation. It may be considered, therefore, as an animal made to fill up that chasm in nature which separates one class of beings from another. It is usually seven feet high, from the top of the head to the ground. The external eye is like that of a man, the upper eye-lid being adorned with eye-lashes which are longer than those on the lid below.

They inhabit the most solitary deserts, where there are few vegetables, and where the rain never comes. The Arabians assert, that the ostrich never drinks; and the place of its habit­ation confirms the assertion. In these regions, ostriches are seen in large flocks, which to the distant spectator appear like a regiment of cavalry. The ostrich is of all other animals the most voracious. It will devour leather, hair, grass, iron, stones, or any thing that is given. But those substances which the coats of the stomach cannot soften, pass whole; so that hair, stones, and iron, are excluded in the form in which they were devoured.

In their native deserts, however, they live chiefly upon vege­tables, where they lead an inoffensive and social life; the male, as Thevenot assures us, assorting with the female with connubial fidelity. They lay generally from forty to fifty eggs. It has been commonly reported, that the female deposits them in the sand; leaves them to be hatched by the heat of the climate, and then permits the young to shift for themselves. Very little of this, however, is true: no bird has a stronger affection for her young: none watches her eggs with greater assiduity. Indeed, in those hot climates, there is no necessity for the continual incubation of the female: but though the female forsakes her eggs by day, she carefully broods over them by night. Then they sit on their eggs like other birds, and the male and female take this office by turns. Nor do they forsake their young after they are excluded the shell. On the contrary, the young oneš not even able to walk for several days after they are hatched.

During this time, the old ones are very assiduous in supplying them with grass, and very careful to defend the from danger; nay, they encounter every danger in their defence.

All land-birds of the rapacious kind, are furnished ‘with a large head, and strong crooked beak, notched at the end, for the purpose of tearing their prey. They have strong, short legs, and sharp, crooked talons, for the purpose of seizing it. Their bodies are formed for war, being fibrous and muscular; and their wings for swiftness of flight, being well feathered and ex­pansive. The sight of such as prey by day is astonishingly quick; and such as ravage by night, have their sight so fitted as to see objects in darkness. Thus formed for war, they lead a life of solitude. They inhabit, by choice, the most lonely places. They make their nests in the clefts of rocks; and in the highest and most inaccessible trees of the forest. Whenever they appear in the cultivated plain, it is only for the purposes of depre­dation: and they spread terror wherever they approach: all the variety of music, which but a moment before enlivened the grove, at their approach is at an end: lesser birds seek for safety, either by concealment or flight; and some are even driven to take protection with man, to avoid their less, merciful pursuers,

It would indeed be fatal to all the smaller race of birds, if, as they are weaker than all, they were also pursued by all: but it is contrived wisely, that every order of carnivorous birds seek only for such as are of a size approaching their own. The eagle flies at the bustard or the pheasant, the sparrow-hawk at the thrush and the linnet. And nature has provided that each species should make war only on such as are furnished with ade­quate means of escape. The smallest birds avoid their pursuers by the extreme agility, rather than the swiftness of their flight; for every order would soon he at an end, if the eagle, to its swift­ness of wing, added the versatility of the sparrow.

Another circumstance which tends to render the tyranny of these animals more supportable, is, that they are less fruitful than other birds. Those of the larger kind seldom produce above four eggs, often but two those of the smaller kinds, never above six or seven. Likewise the carnivorous kinds only breed annually, and of consequence their fecundity is small.

8. The largest of birds is the CUNTOUR of Peru. The body is as big as that of a sheep. Its wings extended are fifteen or sixteen feet from point to point. It is never seen in forests, because it would not have room to fly, but frequents the sea­shore and the banks of rivers. Nature, to allay their fierceness, has denied them the talons given to eagles, though they are of the eagle-kind. However, their beak is strong enough to tear off the hide, and rip up the bowels of an ox. What a blessing is it to mankind, that there are but few (just enough to keep up the species) of this monster in the feathered creation And into what can we resolve this, but the wise and over-ruling care of an adorable Providence

In beasts the smallest animals are noxious, and loathsome; the smallest of birds are the most beautiful, innocent, and sportive. Of all those that flutter in the garden, or paint the landscape, the humming bird is the most delightful to look upon, and the most inoffensive.

Of this there are six or seven varieties, from the size of a small wren, clown to that of a humblebee. An European could never have supposed a bird existing so very small, and yet com­pletely furnished out with a bill, feathers, wings and intestines, exactly resembling those of the largest kind. A bird not so big as the end of one’s little finger, would probably be supposed but a creature of imagination, were it not seen in infinite numbers, and as frequent as butterflies in a summer’s day, sporting in the fields of America, from flower to flower.

The smallest is about the size of a hazle-nut. The feathers on its wings and tail are black; but those on its body, and under its wings, are of a greenish brown, with a fine red cast or gloss, which no silk or velvet can imitate. It has a small crest on its head, green at the bottom, and as it were gilded at the top; and which sparkles in the sun like a little Star in the middle of its forehead. The bill is black, straight, slender, and the length of a small pin.

As soon as the sun is risen, the humming-birds, of different kinds, are seen fluttering about the flowers, without ever lighting upon them. Their wings are in such rapid motion, that it is impossible to discern their colours, except by their glittering. They are never still, but continually in motion, visiting flower after flower: they are furnished with a forky tongue, that enters the cup of the flower, and extracts its nectared tribute. Upon this alone they subsist. The rapid motion of their wings brings out an humming sound, from whence they have their name.

The nests of these birds are not less curious than the rest: they are suspended in the air, at the points of twig of an orange, a pomegranate, or a citron tree. The female is the architect, while the male goes in quest of materials; such as cotton, fine moss, and the fibres of vegetables. Of these materials a nest is composed, of about the size of a hen's egg cut in two, admirably contrived, and warmly lined with cotton. (They lay two eggs at a time, about the size of small peas, and as white as snow, with here and there a yellow speck.) The male and female sit upon the nest by turns: but the female takes to herself the greatest share. She seldom quits the nest, except a few minutes in the morning and evening when the dew is upon the flowers. The of incubation continues twelve days; at the end of which the young ones -appear, much about the size of the end of which fly,

Father’ Labat’s companion, in the mission to America, found the nest of a humming-bird, and took it in, at a time when the young ones were about fifteen or twenty days old; he placed them in a cage at his chamber window; but’ he was soon Sur­prised to seethe old ones, that came and fed their brood regularly every hour in the day. By these means they themselves soon grew so tame, that they seldom quitted the chamber; but without any constraint, came to live with their young ones.

All four have- frequently come to perch upon their master’s hand, chirruping as if they had been at liberty lie fed them with a fine clear paste, made of wine, biscuit and sugar. They thrust their tounges into this paste, till they were satisfied, and then fluttered and chirruped about the room’. I never beheld any thing more agreeable, continues he, than this lovely little family, that had taken possession of my companion’s chamber, and that flew out and in just as they thought proper; but were ever attentive to ‘the voice of their master when he called them:

In this manner they lived with him above six months; but, at a time when he expected to see a new colony, he unfortunately forgot to tie up their cage to the ceiling at night, to preserve them from the rats, and he Found they were devoured in the morning.

Even VULTURES are in Egypt of singular service. There are great flocks of them in the neighbourhood of Grand Cairo, which no person is permitted to destroy. The service they render the inhabitants, is the devouring the carron and filth of that great city, which might otherwise corrupt and putrefy the air. They are commonly seen in company with the wild clogs of the country, tearing a carcase very deliberately together. This odd associa­tion produces no quarrels; the beasts and birds live amicably, and nothing but harmony subsists between them.

The wonder is still the greater, as both are extremely rapa­cious, and both lean and bony to a very great degree, having no great plenty, even of the wretched food on which they subsist.

In America, wherever the hunters go, who pursue beasts for their skins, these birds pursue them. They still keep hovering at a little distance : and when they see the beast flayed and aban­doned, they call out to- each other, pour down upon the carcase, and in an instant, pick its bones as clean as if they had been scraped by a knife.

Rooks keep together in pairs and when the offices of court ship are over, prepare for making t ts and laying. The old inhabitants of the place are already the nest which served them for years before, with little dressing, will serve again; the difficulty of nestling lies only the young ones who have no nest. And not only the materials are wanting, but also the place in which to fix it. Every part of a tree will not do for this Purpose, as some branches may not be sufficiently forked; others may not be sufficiently strong; and others may be too much exposed to the rockings of the wind.

The male and female upon this occasion are, for some days, seen examining all the trees of the grove very attentively; and when they have fixed upon a branch, fit for that purpose, they Continue to sit upon and observe it very sedulously for two or three days longer.

The place being determined, they begin to gather the materials; such as sticks and fibrous roots, which they regularly dispose in the most substantial manner. But here a new and unexpected obstacle arises: it often happens that the young couple have made choice of a place too near the mansion of an older pair, who do not choose to be incommoded by neighbours. A quarrel therefore instantly ensues, in which the old ones are always victorious.

The young couple, thus expelled, are obliged again to go through the fatigues of examining and choosing; and having taken care to keep their clue distance, the’ nest -begins., again. But they grow weary of bringing materials from distant places; and perceive that sticks may be provided nearer home. Away they go, therefore, to pilfer as fast as they can; and wherever they see a nest unguarded, they rob it of the choicest sticks of which it is composed. But these thefts never go unpunished. Eight or ten rooks come, and setting upon the new nest of the young couple at once, tear it in pieces in a moment.

At length, therefore, the young pair find the necessity of going more honestly to work. While one flies to fetch the materials, the other sits upon the tree to guard it ; and thus in the space of three or four days, with a skirmish now and then between, the pair have fitted up a commodious nest, composed of sticks without, and fibrous roots and long grass within. From the instant the female begins to lay, all hostilities are at an end; not one of the whole grove, that a little before treated her so rudely, will now molest her; so that she brings forth her brood with patient tranquillity. Such is the severity with which even native rooks are treated by each other; but if a foreign rook should attempt to make himself a denizen of their society; the whole grove would at once be up in arms against him, and expel him without mercy.

In all its habits the MAGPIE discovers a degree of instinct unusual to other birds. Its nest is not less remarkable for the manner in ‘which it is composed, than for the place it is built in: either in the middle of some hawthorn bush, or on the top of some high tree.

It is always difficult of access; for the tree or bush pitched upon, usually grows in some thick hedge-row, fenced by brambles at the root. When the place is chosen; as inaccessible as possible to men, the next care is to keep the nest above from various enemies.

The kite, the crow, and the sparrow-hawk, are to be guarded against; as their nests have been sometimes Plundered by the magpie, so it may be, they will take an Opportunity to retaliate. To prevent this, the magpie’s nest is built with Surprising labour and ingenuity.

The body of the nest is composed of hawthorn branches; the thorns sticking outward, but well united together by their mutual insertion. It is lined with fibrous roots, wool, and long grass, and nicely plastered round with mud and clay. The body of the nest being thus made firm and commodious, the next work is to make the canopy which is to defend it above.

This is composed of the sharpest thorns, so wove together, as to deny all entrance except at the door, which is just large enough to permit egress and regress to the owners. In this fortress the male and female hatch and bring up their brood with security, sheltered from all attacks but those of the climbing school-boy, who often finds his torn and bloody hands too dear a price for the eggs or the young ones.

As the WOODPECKER is obliged to make holes in trees to pro.. ‘cure food, so is it also to make cavities still larger to form its nest and to lay in. This is performed, as usual, with the bill.

He chooses for this purpose trees that are decayed, or wood that is soft, like beech, elm, and poplar. In these, with very little trouble, it can make holes as exactly round as a mathematician could with compasses. One of these holes the bird generally chooses for its own use, to nestle, and bring up its young in: but as they are easily made, it is delicate in its choice, and often makes twenty before one gives entire’ satisfaction.

In our climate woodpeckers are contented ‘with a wainscot habitation for their young; but in Guinea and Brazil, they take a very different method. A traveller who walks into the forests of these countries, among the first strange objects, is struck with the multitude of bird’s nests hanging at the extremity of almost every branch. Many other kinds of birds build in this manner, but the chief of them are of the woodpecker kind.

In cultivated countries a great part of the caution of the fea­thered tribe is to ‘hide their nests from the invasion of men. But in the depths of those remote and solitary forests, the little bird having nothing to apprehend from man, is careless how much the nest is exposed to general notice: satisfied if it he out of the reach of those rapacious creatures that live by robbery, and surprise. If the monkey or the snake can be guarded against, the bird has no other enemies to fear : for this purpose, its nest is built upon the depending points of the most outward branches of a tall tree. On one of those immense trees, is seen the most various assemblage of creatures that can be imagined. The top is inhabited by monkeys of some particular tribe, that drive off all others ; lower down twine about the trunk numbers of snakes, waiting till some unwary animal comes within their reach; and at the edges of the tree hang these artificial nests, inhabited ‘by birds of the most delightful plumage.

The nests are usually formed in this manner: when the time of incubation approaches, they fly beautifully about, in quest of a kind of moss, called by the ‘English, old man’s beard. It is a fibrous substance, not unlike hair, which bears being moulded into any form. This the little woodpecker first glues by some viscous substance, to the extreme branch of a tree; then build­ing downward, a nest is formed, that descends like a pouch,, from the point of the branch: the hole to enter at, is on the side; and all the interior parts are lined with the finer parts of the same substance, which compose the whole.

Such is the general contrivance of these hanging nests; made by some other birds, with still superior art. A little bird in the Philippine islands, makes its nest in such a manner, that there is no opening but from the bottom. At the bottom the bird en­ters, and goes up through a funnel, like a chimney, till it comes to the real door of the nest, which lies on one side.

Some birds glue their nests to the leaf of the banana tree, ‘which makes two sides of their little habitation; while the other two are artificially composed by their own industry. But these and all of the kind, are built with the same’ precautions, to guard their young against the depredations of monkeys and serpents. The nest hangs there, before the spoilers, a tempting object, which they can only gaze upon, while the bird goes in and out without danger and molestation.

The BIRD OF PARADISE appears to be as large as a pigeon, though in reality not much greater than a thrush. The tail is about six inches long, the wings are large, compared with the bird’s other dimensions. The head, the throat, and the neck, are of a pale gold colour. The base of the bill is surrounded by black feathers, as also the side of the head and throat, as soft as velvet, and changeable like those on the neck of a mallard. The hinder part of the head is of a shining green, mixed with gold. The body and wings are chiefly covered with brown, purple and gold feathers. The uppermost part of the tail-feathers are of a pale yellow, and those under them white and longer than the former; for which reason the hinder part of ‘the tail appears to be all white. But what chiefly excites curiosity, are, two long, naked feathers, which spring from the upper part of the rump above the tail, and are usually about three feet long. These are bearded only at the beginning and the end, the whole shaft, for above two feet nine inches, being of a deep black, the feathered extremity of a changeable colour.

This bird is a native of the Molucca islands. There, in the-delightful and spicy woods, do these beautiful creatures fly in large flocks; so that the groves which produce the richest spices, produce the finest birds also. They are called by some, the SWALLOWS or TERNATE, from their rapid flight, and from their being continually upon the wing; in pursuit of insects, their usual prey.

The American MOCK-BIRD, does not vie with the feathered inhabitants of that country in the beauty of his plumage.’ It is a plain bird, about the size of a thrush, of a white and gray colour, and a reddish bill. It is possessed not only of its own natural notes, which are musical and solemn, but can assume the tone of every other animal in the wood, from the wolf to -the raven. It seems even to sport itself in leading them astray. It will at one time allure the lesser birds with the call of their males, and terrify them when they come near, with the screams of the eagle. There is no bird in the forest, but it can mimic; and there is none that it has not at times deceived by its call. But it is surest to please, when it is most itself.

At those times it frequents the houses of the American planters: and sitting all night on the chimney-top, pours forth the sweetest and the most various notes of any bird whatever.

The CRANES is above three feet from the tip of the beak to the tail, and four feet from the head to the toe. It is a tall, slen­der bird, with a long neck and long legs. The top of the head is ‘covered with black bristles, and the back of it is bald and red, which sufficiently distinguishes this bird from the stork, to which it is very nearly allied in size and figure.

Cranes were formerly known in this island, and held in great estimation for the delicacy of their flesh: there was even a penalty upon such as destroyed their eggs; but at present, they never go so far out of their way. Cultivation and populousness go hand in hand; and though our fields may offer them a greater plenty, yet they find the ven­ture greater than the enjoyment; and we are better off by their absence than their company.

The crane spends the autumn in Europe; then flies off to some more southern climate; returns to Europe in spring; crosses up to the north in summer; visits those lakes that are never dry; and then comes down again to Italy in autumn.

In these journies it is amazing to conceive the height to which they ascend. Their note is the loudest of all birds; and is often heard in the clouds, when the bird itself is entirely unseen. But though unseen themselves, they have the distinct vision of every object below. They govern and direct their, flight by their cries; and exhort each other to proceed or descend, when a fit opportu­nity offers.

Their loud clangorous sound is, when near, almost deafening: however, it is particularly serviceable to the animal itself, either during its migrations or stay: by it the flock is encouraged in their journies; and if while they are feeding, which is performed in profound silence, they are invaded on any side, the bird that first perceives it sounds the alarm, and all are speedily upon the wing.

The stork also is a bird of passage, and goes away toward win­ter to the southern countries. It has a very long beak, and long, red legs. It feeds on serpents, frogs and insects. As it seeks for these in watery places, nature has provided it with long legs. And as it flies to the nest with its prey, its bill is strong and jagged, to hold fast what it has taken. She likewise digs with her bill into the earth for snakes or adders, which she carries to her young. Most of her feathers are white. She lays but four eggs, and sits for thirty days.

But what renders this bird more remarkable is, its steady love to its parents. It never forsakes them when they are old, but tenderly feeds and defends them, as long as they live.

The following adventure of a tame stork some years ago in the university -of Tubingen, seems to shew a degree of under­standing, which one would scarce expect in the brute creation, This bird lived quietly in the court-yard, till count Victor Gra­venitz, then a student there, shot at a stork’s nest, adjacent to the college, and probably wounded the stork then in it. This happened in autumn, when foreign storks usually leave Germany. The next spring a stork was observed on the roof of the college, which after a time came down to the upper gallery; the next day something lower, and at last, by degrees quite into the court. The tame stork went to meet him with a soft cheerful note, when the other fell upon him with the utmost fury. The specta­tors drove him away; but he came again the next day, and during the whole summer, there were continual skirmishes between them. The spring following, instead of one stork, came four, and attacked him all at once. A surprising event followed. All the turkies, ducks and geese, that were brought up in the court ran together, and formed a kind of rampart round him, against so unequal a combat. This secured him for the present. But in the beginning of the third spring, about twenty storks suddenly alighted into the court, and before the poor stork’s life-guards could form themselves, or the people come to his assistance, they left him dead on the spot; which none could impute to any-thing but the shot fired by count Victor at the strange stork’s nest.

The PELICAN somewhat resembles a swan. The body is as large, the neck nearly as long, the legs are short, and the feet are black, broad and webbed in the same manner. It is also of a whitish colour, only the tips of some of his feathers are black.

It is much in the waters. It has a most horrid voice, like that of a man grievously lamenting.

Its beak is above a foot in length, and the point is Very sharp. The upper part is formed as in other birds; but the lower is unlike every thing in nature. It is made-of two long flat ribs, with a tough membrane connected to one and the other. This reaches also to the throat, and is very broad and loose, so that it can contain a vast quantity of provision.

Its eyes are very small; there is a sadness in its countenance; and its whole air is melancholy. They are torpid and inactive to the last degree, so that nothing can exceed their indolence, but their gluttony; it is only from hunger that they labour; otherwise they would continue in a fixed repose. When they have raised themselves thirty or forty feet above the sea, they turn their head with one eye downwards, and continue to fly in that posture. As soon as they perceive a fish near the surface, they dart upon it with the swiftness of an arrow, seize it with unerring certainty, and store it up in their pouch. They then rise again, and continue hovering and fishing, with their head on one side as before.

This work they ‘continue till their bag is full, and then fly to land to devour and digest it. This they are not long performing; for towards night they have another hungry call; and they again reluctantly go to labour. At night fishing is over, and they retire a little way from the shore; and though with the webbed feet and clumsy figure of a goose, they will-be contented to perch no where but upon trees among the light and airy tenants of the forest. There they repose for the night; and often spend great part of the day, sitting in dismal solemnity, as it were half asleep. Their attitude is, with the head resting upon their great bag, and that resting upon their breast. There they remain without motion till-the calls of hunger break their repose.

The same indolence attends them, even in preparing for incu­bation, and defending their young. The female makes no pre­paration for her nest, nor seems to choose any place to- lay in; but drops her eggs on the bare ground to the number of five or six; and there continues to hatch them. ‘Without any desire of defending her eggs or her young, she tamely sits, and suffers them to be taken from under her. Now and then she just ventures to peck or to cry out when a person offers to beat her off. She feeds her young with fish macerated in her bag: and when they cry, flies off for a new supply.

They are but disagreeable and useless domestics; their glut­tony can scarcely be satisfied; their flesh smells very rancid, and tastes a thousand times worse than it smells. The native Americans kill vast numbers; not to eat, for they are not fit even for the banquet of a savage; but to convert their large bags into purses and tobacco-pouches. They bestow no small pains in dressing it with salt and ashes, rubbing it well with oil, and then forming it to their purpose. It thus becomes so soft and pliant, that the Spanish women sometimes adorn it with gold and em­broidery to make work-bags of.

Yet with all the hebetude of this bird, it is not entirely incapa­ble of instruction. The emperor- Maximilian had a tame pelican which lived for above eighty years, and always attended his army on the march.

The ALBATROSS is one of the largest and most formidable birds of Africa and America. It is as large as. a goose, of a, brown colour, and is one of the most fierce ,of the aquatic tribe, not only living upon fish, but also such small water-fowl as it can take by surprise. It preys, as all the gull-kind do, upon the wing; and chiefly pursues the flying-fish. These are every mo­ment rising to escape from their pursuers of the deep, only to encounter equal dangers in the air. Just as they rise, the dol­phin is seen to dart after them, but generally in vain. The gull has more success, and often takes them at their rise, while the albatross pursues the gull, so that the whole horizon presents but one living picture of rapacity and evasion.

But though this bird be one of the tyrants of the deep, there are some associations which even tyrants form, either by caprice, or necessity. The albatross has a peculiar affection for the PEN­GUIN. They choose the same places for breeding: some distant, uninhabited island, where the ground slants to the sea, as the penguin is not formed either for flying or climbing. In such places their nests are seen together, as if they stood in need of mutual assistance. Our men upon Falkland islands, were often amazed at the union preserved between those birds. In that bleak and desolate spot, where they no way dreaded the en­croachments of men, they seemed to make their abode as com­fortable as they expected it to be lasting. They built with an amazing degree of uniformity; their nests covering fields by thousands, and resembling a regular plantation. In the middle, on high, the albatross raised its nest, built of heath, sticks, and long grass, about two feet above the surface; round this the penguins made their lower settlements, rather in hole in the ground, and most usually eight penguins to one albatross.

Nothing is a stronger proof that the presence of man, not only destroys the society of meaner animals, but their instincts also. These nests are now totally destroyed; the society is broke up, and the albatross and penguins have gone to breed upon more desert shores, in greater security.

The SWAN is as delicate in its appetite, as elegant in its form. Its chief food is corn, bread, herbs growing in the water, and roots and seeds, which are found near the margin. It prepares a nest in some retired part of the bank, and chiefly where there is an islet in the stream. This is composed of water-plants, long grass, and sticks; and the male and female assist in forming it with great assiduity. The swan lays seven or eight eggs, white, much larger’ than those of a goose. It sits near two months before its young are excluded, which are ash-coloured for some months. It is dangerous to approach ‘the old ones, when their little family is feeding round them. They soon take the alarm, and they sometimes give a blow with their pinion, that breaks a man’s leg or arm.

It is not till they are a twelvemonth old, that the young swans change their colour with their plumage. All the stages of this bird’s approach to maturity are slow; and mark its longevity. A goose has been known to live a hundred years, and the Swan is supposed to live still longer.

The Goose, in its domestic state,’ exhibits a variety of colours. The wild goose always retains the same marks; the whole upper part is ash-coloured; the breast and belly are of a dirty white ; the bill is narrow at the base, and at the tip it is black. These marks are seldom found in the tame; whose bill is entirely red, and whose legs are entirely brown. The wild goose is rather less than the tame; but both invariably retain a white ring round the tail, which shews that they are both descended from the same original.

The wild goose breeds in the northern parts of Europe; and in the beginning of winter, descends into more temperate regions. They are often seen flying at very great heights, in flocks from fifty to a hundred. Their cry is frequently heard, when they are at an imperceptible distance above us; and this seems handed from one to the other, as among hounds in the pursuit.

Upon their coming to the ground by day, they range them­selves in a line, and seem rather to descend for rest than refresh­ment. When they have sat in this manner for an hour or two, one of them, with a loud, long note, sounds a kind of charge, to which the rest attend, and pursue their journey with renewed alacrity.

The wild goose seldom lays above eight eggs; the tame goose often above twenty. The female hatches her eggs with great assiduity; while the gander visits her twice or thrice a day, and sometimes drives her off to take her place, where he sits with great state and composure.

But beyond that of all animals is his pride when the young are excluded: he seems then to consider himself as a champion ; lie pursues dogs and men that never attempt to molest him; and though the most harmless timing alive, is then the most petulant and provoking. When, in this manner, lie has pursued the calf or the mastiff, to whose contempt alone he is indebted for safety, lie returns to his female and her brood in triumph, clapping his wings, screaming, and shewing all the marks of conscious superiority.

The. SOLUND-G00SE, somewhat less than a land goose, is white only the tips of its wings are black, and the top of the head yellow. The bill is long, and so sharp pointed, that it pierces an inch deep into a board, when they stoop at fish which are laid thereon. This is one way of catching them. When they sleep, they put their head under their wings: but one keeps watch. If that be surprised by the fowler, which frequently happens, all the rest are easily caught by the neck one after another. But if the centinel cries and gives them warning, the whole flock escapes. When they fish for herrings, which come in shoals they. fly near sixty yards high, arid stoop perpendicularly. But when they aim at a single fish, they descend aslant.

There is always one tribe among them which is barren: these keep together, and never mix with them that build and hatch. (Is it riot probable, that these are the males, like the drones among the bees) The solund-geese come to the western isles in Scotland in March, taking the advantage of a south-west wind. They send a few before them who make a tour round the isles, and then return to their company. In a few days after, the whole flock comes together, and stays till September. All this time they are daily making up their nests in the shelves of high rocks. They fish, hatch and make their nests by turns. In order to this they amass together, not only heaps of grass, but whatever -else they find floating on the water. In a nest on St. Kilda, was found a soldier's red coat, and some Molucca beans in another.

They are thought the sharpest sighted of all sea-fowls. They have ,a large gorget, somewhat like a pelican, in which one of them will preserve five or six herring entire, and carry them to her nest, where they empty them out, for food to their young. Nay, they have been observed to go a fishing, to some isles which are thirty leagues distant, and bring the fish in their gorget all that way.

In the isle of Rona, (one of the Scotch western isles) there are a couple of eagles, which the natives say, not only drive away their young as soon as they are able to fly; but keep possession of the island, not suffering any of their kind to live there but themselves.

That which in Iceland they call the DOWN-BIRD, is very remark­able. It is a species of duck, but covered with fine, soft,. downy feathers. The drake is full as large as a goose, but the duck considerably smaller. They abound all over Iceland, but particu­larly the western part, on account of the islands off the coast, where chiefly they build their nests. They build them with the down they pull from their breast. They lay four green eggs, as large as a goose. The inhabitants then take away both the eggs and the nest. The ducks go to work again, pull more down from their breasts, and lay four eggs more, which are again taken away by the inhabitants. This does not however discourage the duck. She builds a third nest, and lays four more eggs: but the drake is now obliged to supply the down, the duck having none left.

They now let her hatch her young: for if they disturb her a third time, she builds no more that year, nor ever returns to the sane place. When the young have left the nest, they take it a third time, and so have two sets of eggs, and three parcels of down from the same nest.

The BAT seems a medium between bird and beast. But it comes nearer to the latter. They lay themselves up and sleep for the winter months, in the driest parts of caves. There, fixing their talons in the roof, they cover their bodies with their wings, and hang perpendicularly, in great numbers, but so as not to touch .each other.

Who can account for another matter of fact which is particu­larly observed on the western islands The western ocean throws up on their shores, great quantities of weather-beaten timber, on which hangs multitudes of little shells, fastened to one another, much as muscle-shells are. In every one of these shells is a per­fect fowl : the little bill is like that of a goose; the eye marked; the head, neck, breast, wings, tail and feet formed. The feathers are perfectly shaped, and of a blackish colour, and the feet like those of other water-fowl : but we cannot hear of any person that ever saw any of them alive.

Now as bats are a kind of medium between beasts and birds, are not barnacles a kind of medium between birds and fishes

I will conclude this account of birds, with one that seems to unite in itself somewhat of every class preceding. It is at force possessed of appetites for prey like the rapacious kinds, and an attachment to water like the birds of that element. It exhibits in its form the beautiful plumage of the peacock, the shadings of the humming-bird, the bill of the crane, and the short legs of the swallow. The bird I mean, is the KING-FISHER. It is not much larger than a swallow; its shape is clumsy; the legs very small, and the bill very long; it is two inches from the base to the tip; but the colours of this bird atone for its inelegant form. The crown of the head and the edges of the wings are of a deep blackish green, spotted with bright azure; the back and tail are of the most resplendent azure; the whole under side of the body is orange-coloured: ‘a broad mark of the same passes from the bill beyond the eyes; beyond that is a large, white spot; the tail is short, and consists of twelve feathers of a rich, deep blue; the feet are of a reddish yellow.

From the diminutive size, and the beautiful colours of this bird, no person would be led to suppose it so rapacious an animal. It is ever on the wing, and feeds on fish, which it takes in surprising quantities, balancing itself at a certain distance above the water for a considerable space, then darting down and seizing the fish with inevitable certainty.

The king-fisher, with which we are acquainted, has none of those supposed powers of allaying the storm, or building upon the waves. It is contented to make its nests on the banks of rivers, in such situations as not to be affected by the rising of the stream. When it has found a place for its purpose, it hol­lows out with its bill a hole about a yard deep. Or if it finds the deserted hole of a rat, it takes quiet possession. This hole it enlarges at the bottom, and lining it with the down of the wil­low, lays its eggs there without any further preparation.

The female begins to lay early in the season, and excludes her first brood about the beginning of April. The male brings her large provisions of fish, while she is thus employed; and she, contrary to most other birds, is found fat at the season of hatching.

9.I have now only to add a few reflections.

And, 1. That birds should all lay eggs, and not bring forth live young, is a clear argument of Divine Providence, designing their preservation thereby. For if they had been viviparous, had they brought any. number at a’ time, the burden of their womb must have been so great and heavy, that their wings would have failed, and they become an easy prey to their ene­mies. And had they borne but one at a time, they would have been bearing all the year.

2.Since it would have been many ways inconvenient to birds to give suck’; and yet inconvenient, if not destructive to the new-born chick, to pass suddenly from liquid to hard food, before the stomach was strengthened and able to digest it, and before the bird was accustomed to use its bill; and gather it up, which it does at first very slowly and imperfectly: therefore na­ture has provided in every egg a large yolk, which serves the chicken a considerable time instead of milk. Mean time it feeds by the mouth a little at a time, and that more and more, till the stomach is strengthened to digest it.

3. Birds that feed, their young in the nest, though they bring but one morsel at, a time, and have perhaps seven or eight, which all at once, with equal greediness, hold up their heads, and gape for it; yet never mistake, never omit one, but feed them all by turns.

4. Though birds cannot number, yet they are able to distin­guish many from few. And when they have laid as many eggs as they can cover, they give over, and begin to sit. Yet they are not determined to such a number : they can go on and lay more at their pleasure. Hens, for instance, if you let their eggs alone, lay four-teen or fifteen, and give over. But if you withdraw their eggs daily, they will go on, to lay five times that number. This holds not only in domestic birds, but also in the wild. A swallow, when her eggs were withdrawn daily, proceeded to lay nineteen.

5. It is remarkable, that birds, and such other oviparous creatures as are long-lived, have eggs enough conceived in them at first, to serve laying for many years, allowing such a proportion for every year, as will suffice for one or two incubations. Whereas insects, which are to breed but once, lay all their eggs at once, be they ever so many.

6. How exceeding speedy is the growth of birds that are fed by the old ones in the nest! Most of them come to near the full bigness, within the short term of a fortnight: an admirable provision, that they may not lie long in that helpless Condition, exposed to the ravine of any vermin, and utterly unable to shift for themselves.

7. What amazing care do the parents take, for the hatching and rearing of their young First, they seek out a secret and quiet place, where they may be undisturbed in their incubation. Then they make their nests, every one after his kind, that their eggs and young may be soft and warm: and those so elegant and artificial, as no art of man can imitate.

After they have laid their eggs, how diligently do they sit upon them, scarce giving themselves time to go off, to get them meat When the young are hatched, how diligently do they brood over them, lest the cold should hurt them All the while labouring hard to get them food, and almost starving themselves lest they should want. Moreover, with what courage are they inspired, so as to venture their own lives in defence of them The most timorous, as hens and geese, daring then even to fly in the face of a man. And all these pains are bestowed upon ,those that will render them no thanks for it! And they are’ bestowed just so long as is necessary. For when the young is able to shift for itself, the old retains no such affection for it, but will beat it indifferently with others.

8. It is another proof of a superintending Providence, that all animals are produced at the most convenient time of the year, just when there is food and entertainment ready for them.. So lambs, kids, and many other living creatures, are brought into the world in the spring, when tender grass and nutritive plants are provided for’ their food. The like may be observed concerning silk-worms, whose eggs are hatched just when the leaves of the mulberry tree appear; the aliment being soft and tender, while the worms themselves are so, and growing more strong and substantial, as the insects increase in bulk and vigour.

9. A still farther proof hereof we have in the various instincts of animals, directed to ends which they know not, as, 1. All creatures know how to defend themselves, and offend their enemies. All know what their natural weapons are, and how to make use of them. A boar knows the use of his tusks, a horse of his hoofs, a cock of his spurs, a bee of her sting. Yea a calf will make a push with his head, even before any horns appear.

2. Those creatures which have not strength to fight, are usually swift of foot or wing, and are naturally inclined to make use of that swiftness, and save themselves by flight. 3. Every creature knows and shuns its natural enemy, as a lamb does the wolf, and partridge or poultry, birds of prey. And they make use of a peculiar note, to warn their young of their approach, who there­upon immediately run to shelter. 4. As soon as ever it is brought forth, every animal knows its food. Such as are nourished with milk, immediately find their way to the paps, and suck: whereas those which are designed for’- other nourishment, never make any such attempt. 5. Birds that are fin-toed, or whole-footed, are naturally directed to go into the water’. So ducklings, though hatched and led by a hen, if she .brings them to the brink ‘of a river or pond, presently leave her and go in, though they never saw any such thing before ; and though the hen clucks and calls, and does all she can to keep them out. 6. Birds of the same kind make their nests of the same materials, laid in the same -order, and exactly of the same figure, so that by the sight of the nest one may certainly- know what bird it belongs to. And this, though living in distant countries, and though they never saw any nest made; that is, although they were taken out of the nest, and brought up by hand. Nor- were any of the same kind ever known to make a different- nest, either for matter or fashion: unless where the usual matter was not to be had: in that case, some birds use what they can get.­ I would add a little farther improvement of some particulars mentioned before.

What master has taught birds, that they have any need of nests Who has warned them, to prepare them in time, and not to suffer themselves to be prevented by necessity Who hath shewn them how to build What mathematician has given the figure of them What architect has taught them to choose a firm place, and to build a solid foundation What tender mother has advised ‘them to cover the bottom with a soft and delicate sub­stance, such as cotton or down, and when these fail, who has suggested to them that ingenious charity, to pluck off as many feathers from their own breast, as will prepare a soft cradle for their young

Again. What wisdom has pointed out to each kind a peculiar manner of building Who has commanded the s-wallow, to instance in one, to draw near to man, and’ make choice of his house for the building her nest, within his view, without fear of his knowing it, but seeming rather to invite him to a consider­ation of her labour Nor does she build like other birds, with bits of sticks, and stubble, hut employs cement and mortar: and that in so firm a manner, that it requires some pains to demolish her work. And yet in all this, it has no other instrument to make use of but a little beak.

Yet again. Who has made the birds comprehend that they must hatch their eggs by sitting upon them That this necessity is indispensable; that the father and mother could not leave them at the same time; and that if One Went abroad to seek for food, the other must wait till it returns Who has told them the precise number of clays this painful, diligence is to cost Who has taught them to assist the young in coming out- of the egg, by breaking the shell for them Yea, and advertised them of the very moment, before which they never come!

Who has taught several of the birds that marvellous industry, of retaining food and water in their gullet, without swallowing either, and preserving them for their young, to whom this pre­paration serves instead of milk

Is it for the birds, 0 Lord, who have no knowledge thereof that thou hast joined together so many miracles! Is it for the men who give no attention to them Is it for those who admire them, without thinking of Thee Rather is it not thy design, by all these wonders, to call us to Thyself; to make us sensible of thy wisdom, and fill us with confidence in thy bounty, who watchest so carefully over those inconsiderable creatures, “two of which are sold for a farthing “

But pass we from the industry of birds, to hearken for a mo­ment to their music: the first song of thanksgiving which was offered on earth before man was formed. All their sounds are different, but all harmonious, and altogether compose. a choir which we cannot imitate. One voice however more strong and melodious I distinguish above the rest. On inquiry I find it comes from a very small bird. This leads me to consider the rest of the singing birds. They likewise are all small: the great ones having a harsh and disagreeable voice. Such an amends is made to these weak, little creatures, for their defect of strength!

Some of these little birds are extremely beautiful, nor can any thing be more rich or variegated than their feathers. But it must be owned, that all ornament must give place to the finery of the PEACOCK; upon which God has plentifully bestowed all the riches which set off the rest, and lavished upon it with gold and azure, all the shades of every other colour.. This bird seems sensible of its advantage, and looks as if it designed to display all its beauties to our eyes, when it stalks along, and ex­pands that splendid circumference, which sets them all in Open’ view.

But this pompous bird has of all others that are kept tame, the most disagreeable cry, and is a proof, that there may be a shining outside, when there is little substance within.

In examining the feathers of the rest, I find one more circum­stance very observable. That feathers of swans and other’ water fowl, are proof against the water. And accordingly they continue dry, though the creature swims or dives ever so long. And yet neither our eyes, nor all our art can discover, wherein they differ from others.

I know not how to conclude this chapter, without adding a few more reflections.

All the universe is replenished with life; and every part of it, with its proper animals. But would one expect to see them in the air! Nothing seems more .natural to our eyes; but nothing is more astonishing to our reason. The fact is certain, and yet might’ seem to be altogether impossible. A bird in flight, is a mass raised aloft, in spite of the gravity of the air, and the tendency of all bodies to the earth. This mass is raised not by any foreign force, but by a movement suited to the purpose of the creature, and which sustained it in the air, for a considerable time, with a peaceful vigour.

Again. In the whole kingdom of birds, none have more than two wings, and yet they all fly in a different manner. Some launch away by repeated springs; others glide through the air with an even motion. These always skim over the earth; those soar up the clouds. Some know how to diversify their flight, by a straight, oblique, or circular motion: to suspend their bodies, and continue motionless in an element lighter than themselves: after this, to start into a horizontal motion, and then dart either to the right or left, wheel into a contrary tract, remount, and then precipitate themselves like a descending stone: in a word, they transport themselves, without opposition or hazard, wherever their necessi­ties or pleasure call them.

The structure of their nests, the care with which they attend their eggs, the mechanism of the egg itself, and the birth and education of their young, are equally astonishing. See the perfect similitude that .appears in all the nests of birds of the same species, the constant difference between the nests of one species and another! Together with the neatness and precaution which all of them observe. One species builds its nest on the top of trees; another on the ground, under a canopy of grass: but always with a shelter, either of herbs, or a branch, or a double roof of leaves, down which the rain slides, without entering the opening, which lies concealed below. The outward part of the nest is made of solid materials, thorns, reeds, clay, or compact moss; the inner of softer materials, closely interwoven, so as to keep out both wind and insects. But each species has a peculiar taste. When the building is completed some hang the inside with a tapestry of feathers, or quilt it with wool or silk.

How admirably does this display the wisdom of Him who fur­nished man with reason, which extends to every thing around him, and inspired animals with an imitation of it, limited indeed to a few points, but admirable in that limitation! For who informed the bird, that she should lay eggs, and want a nest to lodge and nourish them with genial heat! That this heat would not be con-centered round the eggs, if the nest were too large ; and that were it smaller, it would not be capable of containing all the young. Who has taught her not to miscalculate the time, or lay her eggs before she has completed her nest

The same wisdom will more fully, appear, if we observe what the egg contains, with the manner hew the young is there formed, and how it issues from its confinement.

The yolk lies in the heart of the egg, enclosed in the first mem­brane, which is surrounded by the second. Near the centre of the egg are the ligaments that sustain the yolk, which is con­tained in a peculiar membrane. A second membrane encloses the first white; a third and fourth encompass the whole. The shell is formed last of all, out of the salts evacuated from all the humours of the body, which the heat gradually fixes and consoli­dates, to serve a double purpose, first, that it may be excluded ‘without crushing the contents; secondly, to defend their young, till it is thoroughly formed, and ready to forsake the egg.

Under the membrane which surrounds the yolk, is a white speck, which is the seed of the chick, in miniature. If the smallest portion of the vital spirit be infused into it from the male, by a process of which we have no idea, in the instant the chick receives life, and the whole substance is in motion. If it is not infused, the egg may indeed be laid, but it never comes to a living creature.

The pulsation of the heart bears some analogy to the pendulum of a clock, from whose vibrations the whole machine derives all its motions. The moment the heart begins to beat, the animal is alive, and receives by the umbilic duct, the nourishment which it transmits to the other vessels, whose branches distribute it to the whole body. All those little canals, which were fiat before, are now swelled and enlarged. The whole substance imbibes a proper aliment, and the chick begins to grow.

in this situation of the speck, out of which it is formed, one circumstance is highly remarkable. This minute particle which is lodged on the film that includes the yolk is always near the centre of the egg, and toward the body of the dam, in order to be impregnated with a necessary warmth. But in how admirable a manner is this effected! The yolk is sustained by two liga­ments, which fasten it on each side to the common membrane, that is glued to the shell. A line drawn from one ligament to the other, would not pass through the middle of the yolk, but above the centre, and cut the yolk in two unequal parts, so that the smaller part which contains the seed, is of necessity raised towards the belly of birds that sit: the other part as necessarily subsides, so that let the egg turn as it will, the young receives no hurt, but still enjoys a warmth that puts all about it in motion. So it feeds at eases first on the white, which is more thin and delicate, and afterwards on the yolk, which affords more substantial nou­rishment, When his bill is hardened, and he grows uneasy at his confinement, he pecks and breaks the shell, and issues out fully replenished with the yolk, which nourishes him a little longer, till he is strong enough to raise himself upon his feet, and can march about to look for provisions.