. The bird . oons of coloured pearls, and tiny chains of copper or silver whichclink incessantly, and whose jingling makes the young Laplanderlaugh. 0 wonder of maternity ! Through its influence the rudest womanbecomes artistic, tenderly heedful. But the female is always is one of the most affecting spectacles to see the bird of the eider—the eider-duck—^plucking its down from its breast for a couch and acovering for its young. And if man steals the nest, the mother stiUcontinues upon herself the cmel operation. When she has strippedoff every feather, when there is nothing more to de
. The bird . oons of coloured pearls, and tiny chains of copper or silver whichclink incessantly, and whose jingling makes the young Laplanderlaugh. 0 wonder of maternity ! Through its influence the rudest womanbecomes artistic, tenderly heedful. But the female is always is one of the most affecting spectacles to see the bird of the eider—the eider-duck—^plucking its down from its breast for a couch and acovering for its young. And if man steals the nest, the mother stiUcontinues upon herself the cmel operation. When she has strippedoff every feather, when there is nothing more to despoil but theflesh and the blood, the father takes his turn; so that the littleone is clothed of themselves and their substance, by their devotion AQUATIC BIRDS. 77 and tlieir suficring. Montaigne, speaking of a cloak wliicli liad servedliis father, and which he loved to vs^ear in remenabrance of him, makesuse of a tender phrase, which this poor nest recalls to my mind— 1wrapped myself up in my ■aiss ^-JT
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Keywords: ., bookauthormich, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbirds
