But restless hurry through the busy air,
Beat by unnumbered wings. The Swallow sweeps
The slimy pool, to build his hanging house
Intent. And often, from the careless back
Of herds and flocks, a thousand tugging bills
Pluck hair and wool; and oft, when unobserved,
Steal from the barn a straw: till soft and warm
Clean and complete, their habitation grows.”
If the Swan has large sweeping wings, and a copious stock of feathers, to spread over his callow young; the Wren supplies by contrivance what is wanting in her bulk. Though small, she has to nurse a very numerous issue; therefore with surprising sagacity designs, and with wonderful diligence finishes her nest, being a neat oval, bottomed and vaulted over with a regular concave, within made soft with down, without thatched with moss, and having only a small aperture left for her entrance.
“It wins my admiration,