contrary, in that particular Way they better thrive, are more fecure, and better able to fhift for, and help themselves. If, for Inftance, fome Beafts make to themselves no Habitation, but lie abroad in the open Air, and there produce their Young; in this cafe we find there is no need it fhould be others wife, by Reason they are either taken care of by Man (d), or in no Danger, as other Creatures from Abroad. If others repofite their Young in Holes (e) and Dens, and fecure themselves alfo therein, it is, becaufe fuch Guard, fuch Security is wanting, their Lives being fought either by the Hoftility of Man, or to fatisfie the Appetite of rapacious Creatures (f). If among Birds, fome build their Nefts clofe, fome open, fome with this, fome with another Material, fome in Houses, fome in Trees, fome on the Ground (g), fome on Rocks and Crags on high (of which God himfelf hath

given

(d) Tully having spoken of the Care of fome Animals towards their Young, by which they are nurfed and brought up, faith, Accedit etiam ad nonnullorum animantium, & earum rerum quas terra gignit, confervationem, & falutem, heminum etiam folertia & diligentia. Nam multa e pecudes, Airpes funt, que fiue procuratione hominum falva effe non poffunt. Cic. de Nat. Deor. 1. 2. c. 52.

(4) Prov. xxx. 26. The Conies are but a feeble Folk, yes make they their Houses in the Rocks.

(f) See Note (1).

(g) It is a notable Inftinct which Ol. Magnus tells of the Galli Sylveftres in his Northern Country, to fecure themfelves against the Cold and Storms of the Winter. Cùm nives inftar collium terra fuperficiem ubique cooperiunt, ramofque Arborum diutiùs deprimunt & tondenfant, certos fructus Betu le arboris in forma longi Piperis vorant, & glutiunt indigeftos; idque tantâ aviditate, ac quantitate, at repletum "guttur tato corpore majus appareat. Deinde partitis agminibus Jefe inter medios nivium colles immergunt, præfertim in Faw. Febr. Martio, quando nives ut turbines, typhones, vel tempef tates gravissima è nubibus defcendunt. Cúmque caoperta funt,

1

given an Inftance in the Eagle, Job xxxix. 27, 28.) And fo among the Infect and Reptile Kinds, if fome repofite their Eggs or Young in the Earth, fome in Wood, fome in Stone, fome on one Kind of Plant, fome on another, fome in warm and dry Places, fome in the Water and moift Places, and fome in their own Bodies only, as fhall be fhewn in proper Place; in all these Cafes it is in all Probability, the beft or only Method the Animal can take for the Hatching and Production of its Young, for their Supplies, Safety, or fome other main Point of their Being or Well-being. This is manifeft enough in many Cafes, and therefore probable in all. It is manifeft that fuch Animals, for Inftance, as breed in the Waters (as not only Fish, but divers Infects, and other Land-Animals do) that their Young cannot be hatched, fed, or nurfed up in any other Element. It is manifeft alfo, that Infects, which lay their Eggs on this, and that, and the other agreeable Tree, or Plant, or in Flefh, &c. that it is by that Means their Young are fed and nurfed up. And it is little to be doubted alfo, but that these Matrixes may much conduce to the Maturation and Production of the Young. And fo in all other the like Cafes of Nidification, of Heat or Cold, Wet or Dry, Expofed or Open, in all Probability this is the beft Method for the Animal's Good, moft falutary and agreeable to its Nature, most for its Fecundity, and the Continuance and Increase of its Species; to which every Species of Animals is naturally prompt and inclined.

Thus admirable is the natural Sagacity and In

certis hebdomadis cibo in gutture collecto, egefto, & resumpto vivunt. Venatorum canibus non produntur. Quod fi prefentiunt nivem imminere majorem, pradicto fructu, iterum devorato, aliud domicilium captant, in eoque manent ufque ad finem Martii, &c. Ol. Mag. Hift. 1. 19. c. 33.

ftinct (b) of the irrational Animals in the Convenience and Method of their Habitations. And no lefs is it in the Fabrick of them. Their architectonick Skill, exerted in the Curiofity and Dexterity of their Works, and exceeding the Skill of Man to imitate; this, I fay, deferves as much or more Admiration and Praife, than that of the moft exquifite Artift among Men. For with what inimitable Art (i) do thefe poor untaught Creatures lay a parcel of rude and ugly Sticks and Straws, Mofs and Dirt together, and form them into commodious Nefts? With what Curiofity do they line them within, wind and place every Hair, Feather, or Lock of Wool, to guard the tender Bodies of themselves and their Young, and to keep them warm? And with what Art and Craft do many of them thatch over, and coat their Nefts without, to dodge and deceive the Eye of Spectators, as well as to guard and fence against the Injuries of Weather (k) With what prodigious Subtilty do

fome

(b) It is a very odd Story (which I rather mention for the Reader's Diverfion, than for its Truth) which Dr. Lud. de Beaufort relates, Vir fide dignus narravit mihi, quòd cùm femel, animi gratiâ, nidum avicula ligno obturáffet, feque occultaffet, cupidus videndi, quid in tali occafione praeftaret ; illa cùm fruftra fæpiùs tentaffet roftro illud auferre, cafus admodum impatiens, abiit, & poft aliquod temporis fpatium reverfa eft, roftro gerens plantulam, qua obturamento applicatâ, panlò poft, illud veluti telum eripuit tanta vi, ut difperfa impetu berbula, ac occafionem ipfi, ab avicula ejus virtutem difcendi, praripuerit. Cofmop. divina, Sect. 5. C. I. Had he told us what the Plant was, we might have given better Credit to this Story.

(i) Of the Subtilty of Birds in Nidification, fee Plin. Nat. ·Hift. l. 10. c. 33.

(k) Among many Inftances that might be given of this Subtilty of birds, and other Creatures, that of the long tailed Titmouse deferves Obfervation, who with great Art builds. her Neft with Moffes, Hair, and the Webs of Spiders, caft

J

fomé foreign Birds (1). not only plat and weave the fibrous Parts of Vegetables together, and curiously tunnel them,and commodioufly form them into Nefts, but also artificially fufpend them on the tender Twigs of Trees, to keep them out of the reach of rapaci ous Animals?

And fos for Infects, those little, weak, those tender Creatures; yet, what admirable Artifts are they in this Business of Nidification! With what great Diligence doth the little Bee gather its Combs. from various Trees (m) and Flowers, the Wafp

out from them when they take their Flight fee Book VIII. Chap. 4. Note (e). with which the other Materials are strongly tied together. Having neatly built, and covered her Neft with thefe Materials without; the thatcheth it on the top with the Mufcus arboreus ramofus, or fuch like broad, whitish Mofs, to keep out Rain, and to dodge the Spectator's Eye; and within the lineth it with a great Number of foft Feathers fo many, that I confefs I could not but admire how fo fmall a Room could hold them, efpecially that they could be laid fo clofe and handfomely together, to afford fufficient Room for a Bird with fo long a Tail, and fo numerous an Iffue as this Bird commonly hath, which Mr. Ray faith (Synopf. Method. Avium, p. 74.) Ova inter omnes aviculas numerofiffima ponit. See more of the Neft of this Bird, from Aldrovand. in Willugh. Ornith. p. 243.

(1) The Neft of the Guira tangeima, the Ifferus minor. and the Jupujuba, or whatever other Name the American Hang-Nefis may be called by, are of this Kind. Of which fee Willughby's Ornith. Lib. 2. Chap. 5. Sect. 12, 13. Alfo Dr. Grew's Museum Reg. Soc. Part 1. Sect. 4. Chap. 4. Thefe Nefts I have divers Times feen, particularly in great Perfecti on in our R. s. Repofitory, and in the noble and well-furnifhed Museum of my often-commended Friend Sir Hans Sloane; and at the fame Time I could not but admire at the neat Mechanifm of them, and the Sagacity of the Bird, in hanging them on the Twigs of Trees, to fecure their Eggs and Young from the Apes.

(m) I mention Trees, becaufe I have feen Bees gather the Gum of Fir-Trees, which at the fame Time gave me the Pleafure of feeing their way of loading their Thighs there with performed with great Art and Dexterity

from

from solid (n) Timber! And with what prodigi ous geometrical Subtilty do thofe little Animals work their deep hexagonal Cells, the only proper Figure that the best Mathematician could chufe for fuch a Combination of Houses (9)! With what Accuracy do other Infects perforate the Earth (2), Wood, yea, Stone it felf (9)! For which Service, the compleat Apparatus of their Mouths (r), and Feet (, deferves particular Obfervation, as hath been

(n) Wafps, at their firft Coming, may be obferv'd to frequent Pofts, Boards, and other Wood that is dry and found; but never any that is rotten. These they may be heard to fcrape and gnaw; and what they fo gnaw off, they heap clofe together between their Chin and Fore-Legs, until they have gotten enough for a Burden, which they then carry away in their Mouths, to make their Cells with.

(0) Circular Cells would have been the most capacious; but this would by no Means have been a convenient Figure, by Reafon much of the Room would have been taken up by Vacancies between the Circles; therefore it was neceffary to make Ufe of fome of the rectilinear Figures. Among which only three could be of Ufe; of which Pappus Alexandrin. thus difcourfeth; Cùm igitur tres figura funt, que per feipfas locum circa idem punctum confiftentem replere poffunt, Triangulum feil. Quadratum & Hexagonum, Apes illam que ex pluribus angulis conftat fapienter delegerunt, utpote fufpicantes eam plus mellis capere quàm utramvis reliquarum. At Apes quidem illud tantùm quod ipfis utile eft cognofcunt, viz. Hexagonum Quadrato Triangulo effe majus & plus Mellis capere poffe, nimirum aquali materia in conftructionem uniufcujufque confumpta. Nos verò qui plus fapientia quàm Apes habere profitemur, aliquid esi am magis infigne inveftigabimus. Collect. Math. 1. 5. (p) See before Note (c).

(4) See Chap. 11. Note (x)..

(r) See Chap. 11. Note (y).

() Among many Examples, the Legs and Feet of the Mole-Cricket, (Gryllotalpa,) are very remarkable. The ForeLegs are very brawny and ftrong; and the Feet armed each with four flat ftrong Claws, together with a fmall Lamina, with two larger Claws, and a third with two little Claws: Which Lamina is joynted to the Bottom of the Foot, to be extended, to make the Foot wider, or withdrawn within the Foot, Thefe Feet are placed to fcratch fomewhat fideways,