“Don’t speak of it; I feel my heart go pit-pat when I think of home, sweet home.”

“So do the birds.  When they soften the grain before they throw it into the maw of their fledgelings—­when they fly off and return laden with midges to their nests—­when they tear the down from their breasts to protect their eggs and their young, do you think their hearts do not beat as well as yours?”

“But all that is said to be instinct.”

“Heart or instinct, where is the difference?  The Abbe Spallanzani saw two swallows that were carried to Milan return to Pavia in fifteen minutes, and the distance between the two cities is seven leagues.”

“That I can easily believe.”

“When you see a little, insignificant bird flying backwards and forwards, perching on one branch and hopping off to another, whistling, carolling, perching here and there, you think that it has no cares, that it does not reflect, and that it does not love!”

“Well, I have heard in my time a great many wonderful stories of robin-redbreasts and jenny-wrens, but I always understood that they were intended only to amuse little boys and girls.”

“You consider, doubtless, that a field-sparrow is not a creature of much importance; but do you know that he consumes half a bushel of corn annually?”

“If that is his only merit, the farmers, I dare say, would be glad to get rid of him.”

“But it is not his only merit.  What do you think of his killing three thousand insects a week.”

“That is more to the purpose.  But, to return to the pigeon, supposing it is possible for it to find its way, how long do you suppose it will take to get there?”

“It is estimated that birds of passage fly over two hundred miles a day, if they keep on the wing for six hours.”

“Two hundred miles in six hours is fast sailing, anyhow.”

“Swallows have been seen in Senegal on the 9th of October, that is, eight or nine days after they leave Europe; and that journey they repeat every year.”

“They must surely make some preparations for such a lengthy excursion.”

“When the period of departure approaches, they collect together in troops on the chimneys or roofs of houses, and on the tops of trees.  During this operation, they keep up an incessant cry, which brings families of them from all quarters.  The young ones try the strength of their wings under the eyes of the parents.  Finally, they make some strategic dispositions, and elect a chief.”

“You talk of the swallows as if they were an army preparing for battle, with flags flying, trumpets sounding, and ready to march at the word of command.”

“The resemblance between flocks of birds and serried masses of men in martial array is striking.  Wild ducks, swans, and cranes fly in a kind of regimental order; their battalions assume the form of a triangle or wedge, so as to cut through the air with greater facility, and diminish the resistance it presents to their flight.