titude, as well as by our own solemn vows and resolutions. Let us, therefore, endeavour to walk as

becomes a people brought near to the Lord. Thus, like the first Christians, walking habitually in the fear of the Lord, we shall be enabled, by divine grace, to walk on in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, to our own edification, and to the spiritual edification of others, to the glory of God and of Jesus

Christ our Saviour.

3d, What has been already discoursed on this subject, suggests a seasonable and serious admonition to all who despise Christ and his religion; and to all who disgrace a profession of it, by wicked and ungodly lives in the world. Glorious things, indeed, are said of Mount Sion, the city of our God. But all these blessed privileges belong only to those who are true sincere Christians, and who study to walk as becomes the Gospel. But as for those who despise Christ, and his religion, or who have only an external profession of Christianity, but disgrace the profession by profane and wicked lives, I must protest unto all such this day, that they have no part at all nor lot in this matter. They belong evidently to another fraternity-they are the children of wrath, and heirs of hell-associates with Satan, and all the hellish legions of evil spirits in wicked sinful works; and while they continue in this course, they have nothing to expect but that these, after their death, will be their miserable companions for ever. If, therefore, there be any of this class here present, be exhorted, I beseech you, be entreated, be persuaded, as you regard your own happiness, to break off your sins immediately by repentance. Acquaint yourselves with Jesus, the divine Saviour-make choice of him, as offered in the Gospel-and give up yourselves to him, as sinners to be saved, as subjects to be ruled. Pray earnestly for the converting influences of divine grace, to dispose and enable you to break your covenant with hell and death, and begin a work of religion in good earnest. Then, and then only, you may hope to be numbered among the saints of God, and to know in your experience the happy privileges that belong to all such, both on earth and in heaven. Amen.

THE INSTINCT OF BIRDS IN

NEST-BUILDING.

THE first care of birds, after pairing, is to discover a fit place for preparing their nests; and in doing this, their instincts, which are uniform in the species, direct them with admirable tact to the locality best suited for their own peculiar habits and temperament, as well as for the purposes of concealment from their enemies, or at least of safety from their attacks. If there are exceptions from this rule, they are such as serve only to confirm it, by shewing more clearly its nature and beneficent object. The ostrich, for example, which resides in the desert wilds of Africa, apart from the habitations of her enemy man, and also, in general, from any animal likely to annoy, which can cope with her in strength, lays her eggs in a nest carelessly chosen, and very inartificially formed, in the bare sand; but, then, these nests are never deserted, for the male alternates the act of incubation with the female. The eagle builds his

eyrie among the almost inaccessible rocks of the lofty mountains, open to the atmosphere, but secure. The the long grass of the meadow, the bush or brake of the smaller birds, whether they construct their nests among woodlands, the leafy hedge or lofty bough, or whether they seek the dwellings of the human race, and nestle in the window corner, in the eaves of the thatched roof, or in the shelter of some deserted chimney, uniformly display a consummate skill in acting on the principle I

have stated, so far as it is consistent with other circum

stances in their condition and habits.

But what is still more worthy of remark, is the degree of care with which the nest itself is constructed, which remarkably corresponds with the necessity of the case. I have mentioned the little art with which the eagle and the ostrich prepare their nests; and this inwhile, in proportion as the size of the bird diminishes, attentive habit is common to almost all the larger birds, the skill with which the materials of the nest are selected and interwoven is in general increased. The intention of this is not doubtful. The chief object of careful nest-building is the preservation of an equable heat in the eggs; but when the fowl happens to be the natural heat of the body is sufficient for all the purlarge, in proportion to the size or number of the eggs, poses of incubation; and it is only when this circumstance is reversed, as is the case in the smaller birds, or in such as build early in spring, that any artificial means are necessary. There is here, then, a remarkable accommodation to circumstances, a wisdom altogether beyond that of the bird itself, and referable, like other breeders, the blackbird and the thrush, to plaster their instincts, only to the Creator. Who taught those early nests with loam, that they may exclude the keen icy gales of still lingering winter? Who taught the eiderduck, in the chilly regions of Iceland, to tear the down from her body, that by a lining so soft and warm, she may protect her precious charge from the inclemency of the golden-crested wren, which fears no cold for itself, Who taught that hardy little warbler, and which delays its maternal labours till the middle of summer, to compensate for the trifling degree of warmth communicated by its tiny form, by building its beautiful nest of moss interwoven with the spider's web, and thus forming a thick and closely compacted texture, which it fills with such a profusion of feathers, that its little eggs, by the retention and accumulation of the heat, are kept in a temperature at once high and equable? And, on the other hand, who taught the emu, the osprey, and the condor, to know that their comparatively gigantic bodies were sufficient, of themselves, without the aid of an artfully formed nest, to impart the requisite warmth for the vivifying of their eggs, small as they are in number, and large in bulk ?* Who, indeed, we may ask, taught any of the winged tribes that the heat of their bodies was necessary for the development of the embryo in the egg? The whole subject is full of wonder and instruction, and calculated to overwhelm the mind with devout admiration. "Who knoweth not, in all these, that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?"

that climate?

Another circumstance which I may mention, is the remarkable variety observable in the habits of birds in nest-building, where the instinct itself is so peculiar, and its general principle so identical. The same form of the nest, and place of building, and materials employed, are rarely, if ever, found united in the architec

It must be confessed, however, that although what has been said in the text is true as a general law, there are many instances for which it may be difficult to account on the same principle, though, doubtless, even these cases, were we acquainted with all the circumstances, would be equal indications of wise adaptation. The woodpigeon and the jay, for example, though they erect their fabrics on the tall underwood, in the open air, construct them so slightly, and with such a scanty provision of materials, that they seem scarcely to make sufficient provision for the support of the brood, and even their eggs may almost be seen through the loosely connected materials. It would appear, that there is something in the constitution of the eggs, which makes them less susceptible than others of the alternation of heat and cold.

in the year, in a variety of situations, under the warm eaves of our houses and sheds, the branch of a clustered fir, or the thick tall hedge which bounds our garden, employing, in all these situations, a mass of straw and hay, and, for a lining, feathers from the poultry-yard. The goldfinch forms the cradle of its young with fine mosses and lichens, collected from the apple or pear tree, compact as felt, lining it with the thistledown, a model of beautiful construction. A few loose bents and goose-grass, on the other hand, rudely entwined, with perhaps a sprinkling of hair, suffice for the midsummer nests of the white-throat and black-cap. The green-finch builds carelessly in the hedge, with materials of the coarsest kind; while the chaffinch constructs its anxiously-concealed edifice with the nicest art, in the neighbouring beech or ehm. The bullfinch requires fine roots for its nest; the grey fly-catcher chooses cobwebs for the outworks of its building.* It seems as if Providence had intended that all kinds of portable materials, adapted for the purpose, should be put in requisition, by this variety of choice in the different families, so that nothing might be lost, and that one species might not inconveniently interfere with another.

"It wins my admiration

HURDIS.

To view the structure of that little workA bird's nest. Mark it well, within, without No tool had he that wrought; no knife to cut ⚫ No nail to fix; no bodkin to insert: No glue to join; his little beak was all; And yet, how neatly finished! What nice hand, With every implement and means of art, And twenty years' apprenticeship to boot, Could make me such another? Fondly, then, We boast of excellence, whose noblest skill Instinctive genius fails!" There is yet another general observation which I may make here, though it relates to the instinct of reproduction, and not of nest-building. I have incidentally stated, that some of the larger birds lay fewer eggs than the smaller. There is, in this, a very remarkable attention to what I have elsewhere called the balance of animal nature. Birds of prey breed slowly; those which are the objects of prey breed rapidly, and in profusion. Thus, the eagle, the condor, and the vulture, lay but two eggs at a time, and produce only once in the year. The falcon, the hawk, and the owl, with all their rapacious congeners, produce also sparingly. The wren, on the contrary, lays ten or even fifteen eggs, and rears this numerous offspring, that they may serve, as it were, to supply the wants of the predatory tribes, to whom their feebleness and unprotected condition render them an easy prey. And so with many other birds. They are prolific in proportion to their exposure to accidents or to enemies; and thus the species is preserved, notwithstanding the destruction to which they are destined. This is a kind of provision which runs through animated nature, and, singular as it is, manifests Creative Intelligence, and that kind of analogy, which, in so many, particulars, unites the various departments of creation under one character, and distinguishes the whole as the work of one Almighty hand.

To begin with the eagle, which has justly been termed the king of birds. Her nest is usually built, as I have already observed, in some inaccessible cliff of a rock, sometimes shielded from the weather by an overhanging erag, but sometimes also exposed both to the wind and rain. It is flat, though built with considerable labour, and the pains bestowed in erecting it, seem only once to be encountered, as she is said to make it her breeding-station for life. Willoughby thus describes a Best which was found on the Peak of Derby:-"It was made of great sticks, resting one end on the edge of a rock, the other on two birch trees. Upon these was a layer of rushes, and over them a layer of heath,

⚫ Journal of a Naturalist.

yards square, and had no hollow in it. The young eagle was of the shape of a goshawk, of almost the weight of a goose, rough-footed, or feathered down to the foot, having a white ring about the tail."

The circumstance mentioned of the addle egg, seems to be very common among all the eagle tribes, owing, perhaps, to the flatness of the nest; and it may be regarded as indicating the same providential intention as that already alluded to in regard to the fewness of their eggs. The design is, that this devourer of the more helpless of the quadruped tribes, should be preserved and propagated in sufficient abundance to perform its office of keeping these prolific species within their proper bounds, but should, at the same time, be prevented from itself becoming a pest by over production.

The woodpecker is another bird whose nest is an object of curiosity and admiration, though for a very different reason. This numerous tribe have very remarkable habits in procuring their food; and the instruments with which they are endowed, are admirably fitted to the peculiarity of their condition, which consists in feeding on insects lodged in the interior of decaying trees. These I must not stop at present to describe; but I have to observe that its bill, which is so beautifully contrived for providing its subsistence, serves also, in this country, to enable it to scoop out for itself a nest, which it does with all the neatness of an experienced workman, in one of the trees where it finds its food. The work is thus graphically described by Wilson :"About the middle of May, the male and female lock out for a suitable place for the reception of their eggs and young. An apple, pear, or cherry tree, often in the near neighbourhood of a farm-house, is generally pitched upon for this purpose. The tree is minutely reconnoitred for several days previous to the operation; and the work is first begun by the male, who cuts out a hole in the solid wood, as circular as if described by a pair of compasses. He is occasionally relieved by the female,--both parties working with the most indefatigable diligence. The direction of the hole, if made in the body of the tree, is generally downward, by an angle of thirty or forty degrees, for the distance of six or eight inches, and then straight down for ten or twelve more, -within roomy, capacious, and as smooth as if polished by the cabinet-maker; but the entrance is judiciously left just so large as to admit the bodies of the owners. During this labour, they regularly carry out the chips, often strewing them at a distance, to prevent suspicion. This operation sometimes occupies the chief part of the week."

This operation is sufficiently curious; but what is far more worthy of attention, is the total change of instinct in birds of the same species, under other circumstances. There is not, indeed, in the whole history of nature, a more singular instance of sagacity, if it can be called by that name, than what is displayed by these little winged wonders, in protecting themselves against their enemies. In civilized countries, man is the chief foe they have to dread; and the nest we have described suffices for that purpose. But the case is different in the wide-spread forests of America. In the depth of these wildernesses, where little is to be apprehended from man, it is not concealment that is necessary, but a situation beyond the reach of those rapacious creatures, which infest the woods, and live by plunder. From the monkey and the snake, which are, in these regions, its natural enemies, its European nest would be no security. It must select but cannot invade. This, with admirable skill, it aca place which these insidious foes may, indeed, observe, complishes, by building its nest depending from the most outward branches of a tall tree, such as the banana or the plantain. "On one of these immense trees," says Goldsmith, whose account I follow, "is seen the

most various and the most inimical 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 great trunk, numbers of the larger snakes, patiently waiting till some unwary animal come within the sphere of their activity; and, at the edges of this tree, hang those artificial nests, in great abundance, inhabited by birds of the most delightful plumage."

The nest is usually formed in this manner.-When the time of incubation approaches, the woodpeckers fly busily about, in quest of a kind of moss, called, by the English inhabitants of those countries, old-man's-beard. It is a fibrous substance, which bears to be moulded into any form, and glued together. This the little bird first fixes, by some viscous substance, gathered in the forest, to the most extreme branch of a tree; then, building downward, and still adding fresh materials to those already procured, it forms a nest, which hangs like a pouch, from the point of a branch. The hole to enter at is on the side; and all the interior parts are lined with the finer fibres of the same substance, which compose the rest of the fabric.

Such is the ingenious and effectual contrivance, by which the American woodpeckers, as well as some other birds who have the same enemies to dread, save themselves and their young from the depredations of the serpent and the monkey. The nest hangs there, before the spoilers, a tempting object, which they can only gaze upon, while the bird flies in and out, without danger or molestation.

The magpie's nest, by its peculiar adaptation to the circumstances of a single locality, seems to indicate a power of reasoning and contrivance more allied to reason than to instinct. "On the road between Huntly and Portsoy," says the Rev. John Hall, "I observed two magpies, hopping round a gooseberry-bush, in a small garden, near a poor-looking house, in a peculiar manner, and flying out and in to the bush. I stepped aside to see what they were doing, and found, from the poor man and his wife, that these magpies, several succeeding years, had built their nest, and brought up their young in this bush; and, that the foxes, cats, hawks, &c. might not interrupt them, they had not only barricaded their nest, but had encircled the bush with briars and thorns in a formidable manner, nay, so completely, that it would have cost even a fox, cunning as he is, some days' labour to get into the nest.

"The materials in the inside of the nest were soft, warm, and comfortable; but all on the outside so rough, so strong, and firmly entwined with the bush, that, without a hedge-knife, hatch-bill, or something of the kind, even a man could not, unless with much pain and trouble, get at their young; for, the distance from the outside to the inside of the nest, extended as long as my arm. "These magpies had been faithful to one another for several summers, and driven off their young, as well as every one else that attempted to take possession of their nest. This they carefully repaired and fortified in the spring, with strong, rough, prickly sticks that they sometimes brought by uniting their force, one at each end, pulling it along, when they were not able to lift it from the ground.'

(To be continued.)

SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL. BY THE REV. GEORGE MUIRHEAD, D. D., Minister of Cramond.

No. I.

"Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places."—Deut. xxxii. 29.

THE nation of Israel stands distinguished above all other nations, for signal dispensations of Providence to

Travels in Scotland,

them. More especially, are they distinguished for very great deliverances that have been wrought for them in former times; and for a still greater deliverance that is in reserve for them, according to the prophecies of Scripture. To that great deliverance, the words of Moses, quoted above, look forward for their complete accomplishment. The same things have not been promised to any other nation under heaven. To the same effect Moses tells them in chap. iv. of this book of Deut.: "Ask, now, of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else besides him." See also David's testimony, respecting the distinguished privileges of the people of Israel. 2 Sam. vii. 23, 24, and Ps. cxlvii. 20.

Now, although we, as Gentiles, had not been aware of our having any near interest in the nation of Israel; yet the consideration of their being distinguished above all other nations, might naturally make us desirous of knowing what might be known of a people, whom the God of heaven had delighted to honour. But much more should our attention be directed to what has been recorded of them, when we consider that we have a near interest in them, that our highest hopes for eternity stand connected with the eventful history of that wonderful people. It was from them that the word of the Gospel was first sent to us; and it will be from them that the Gospel shall again be sent to all the nations of the earth, when the mountain of the Lord's house shall be above the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it; and when Jerusalem shall again be a praise on the earth.

We may well suppose that great and important purposes are to be answered, by so marked a distinction between this nation and the other nations; and it may serve as a suitable introduction to the sketches of their history that are to be given, and may deepen the interest to be taken in their history if we can ascertain, by the help of the Scriptures, some of the purposes that were to be answered, by the selecting of one nation from among the nations, to be distinguished by signal interpositions of Providence in their behalf.

1. One very important purpose, that was intended to be answered by this arrangement, was to preserve upon the earth the knowledge and worship of the living and true God, when, otherwise, there is reason to fear, that the whole earth would soon have been involved in total darkness, and its inhabitants would have been living without God and without hope. God had, indeed, at no time left himself without a witness in the world, in giving men rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling their hearts with food and gladness. But men chose not to retain the knowledge of God in their hearts. Their foolish heart was darkened, and they were speedily turned aside, under the influence of Satan, the god of this world, into all the abominations of heathen idolatry. Here then, was a wise and gracious constitution, by means of which, there was preserved a knowledge of the true God, in one corner of the earth, at least, as a light shining in a dark world; a star in the east, to guide men from earth to heaven. And, doubtless, many individuals of the other nations, there especially, bordering with the land of Israel, were benefited by the light that beamed from mount Zion,